Ukrainian savings bank demands Hungarian authorities return seized cash and gold

Ukraine's Oschadbank is demanding the return of its illegally seized assets and valuables, according to a statement posted on Facebook by the Ukrainian state-owned bank, whose cash shipment was stopped by the Hungarian Counter-Terrorism Center (TEK) on Thursday. Seven of the bank's employees were detained and then expelled from the country, while the cash was seized by the Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV).

As they write, following the "illegal seizure" in Hungary on March 5, their cash transport vehicles and valuables "remain illegally detained." The bank is therefore taking steps in two directions:

• On the one hand, they are appealing the decision on their employees' deportation from Hungary, as well as the fact that during their detention, which lasted more than a day, they were denied consular support and legal assistance.
• On the other hand, they are taking legal action to recover the bank's property, the two cash transport vehicles and the USD 40 million and EUR 35 million transported in them.

The bank states in its announcement that it is fully confident in the legitimacy of its actions and that "the complete scope of information and supporting documents was transferred to the National Bank of Ukraine". To further confirm its legal position, the Bank will seek one of the leading international companies to conduct an independent audit of processes and contractual relations between all parties ".

They reiterate that, in their view, transfer of funds and values was carried out within the framework of an international agreement between Savings Bank and Raiffaisen Bank Austria. The cargo was processed in accordance with international transport rules and current European customs procedures.

The savings bank has a valid international transport license. They also added that since the outbreak of the war, all transport of valuables between banks has been carried out exclusively by land, and this has been done on average once a week until now.

On Saturday, Gerhard Bösch, the former Austrian CEO of PrivatBank, a Ukrainian financial institution, said the same thing and called the allegations of money laundering made in connection with the captured Ukrainian cash transport ridiculous. He also pointed out that since the closure of Ukrainian airports, Hungary has played a central role as a transit country for cash deliveries to Ukraine for years. "This has been common practice for years," Bösch said.

Citing banking secrecy, Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) did not confirm to APA that the cash shipment was intended for Ukraine's Oschadbank. A spokesperson for the bank, however, said that they have been involved in banknote trading for years and they regularly cooperate with central banks, the relevant authorities, and distributors as part of this activity. The spokesperson indicated that they are in constant contact with the authorities, who receive extensive information from the bank about trading volumes, currencies, and destination countries. They also said that their financial institution's internal policies are much stricter than what is required by money laundering and sanctions laws.

It was revealed on Friday morning that two Ukrainian cash transport vehicles and their staff had been detained by Hungarian authorities on the M0 ring road between the M4 and M5 sections, at the Alacska rest stop. The Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration later announced that it was conducting criminal proceedings on suspicion of money laundering in the case of the Ukrainian cash-in-transit vehicles seized in Hungary.