According to Hungarian police, earlier this week, functional forces intercepted 2 armored vehicles moving through the country's territory. Inside the convoy were about 80 million USD (40 million USD, 35 million euros in cash) and 9kg of gold. Seven Ukrainian citizens accompanying the convoy were detained for questioning before being deported.
The Hungarian government said it suspects that this huge amount of assets shows signs of money laundering and may be related to a shady financial network that some Budapest officials call the "Ukrainian war mafia".
However, Kiev reacted strongly. Oschadbank declared that the seized money and gold were legal assets of Ukrainian individuals and businesses.
In a statement on March 8, Oschadbank requested Hungary to immediately return the "illegally confiscated" assets. According to the bank, the money is being transported from their partner, Raiffeisen Bank, as part of a normal money transfer operation.
However, Prime Minister Viktor Orban appeared skeptical. He questioned why such a large amount of cash was transported through Hungary and what the real origin of the money was.
We just want to know what Ukrainians are doing with this huge amount of money on Hungarian territory," Orban said at a rally in Debrecen city. "Currently we have more questions than answers, but we will clarify.
The latest incident took place in the context of long-standing tense relations between Hungary and Ukraine.
The two countries have deep disagreements on many issues, from sanctions against Russia, financial aid to Kiev to Ukraine mobilizing military service for Hungarian people living in the border area.
Budapest also accused Kiev of deliberately disrupting the Druzhba oil pipeline from the Soviet era that transported Russian oil through Ukrainian territory to Hungary. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side said that the pipeline was damaged by Russian attacks.
The controversy became even more intense after Hungary blocked a 105 billion USD loan package from the European Union (EU) for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky then made a controversial threat, saying that he could announce Prime Minister Orban's address so that Ukrainian soldiers could "call and talk to him in their language".
Hungary and many EU officials criticized this statement as unacceptable.
Observers believe that the dispute related to about 80 million USD in cash and gold risks exacerbating tensions between Budapest and Kiev.
