The Hungarian authorities are launching an internal investigation into the agencies involved in the arrest of the Ukrainian cash-in-transit staff and the seizure of their vehicles, Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on 17 June.
“We have ordered an immediate internal investigation to be carried out within the National Tax and Customs Administration, the Anti-Terrorism Centre and other relevant agencies in connection with the case of the Ukrainian gold convoy,” he wrote on his X page.
According to Magyar, the Hungarian Prosecutor General must look into this matter immediately.
In May, Budapest returned to Ukraine the funds and valuables seized along with the cash-in-transit guards on Hungarian territory. Subsequently, the country also revoked its decision to deport the Ukrainian citizens.
On 6 March, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister stated that the Hungarian authorities had ‘taken hostage’ seven Ukrainian employees of the state-owned ‘Oschadbank’. They were travelling in two cash-in-transit vehicles between Austria and Ukraine. The Ukrainian cash-in-transit drivers were released on the same day and officially deported.
According to the bank, the vehicles were carrying 40 million dollars, 35 million euros and 9 kilograms of gold.
The National Police of Ukraine have launched criminal proceedings into the abduction of Ukrainian citizens and the theft of an Oschadbank service vehicle on Hungarian territory.
The then Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Péter Szijjártó, stated that the country’s authorities had concerns regarding the transport of cash through its territory and would “conduct a thorough investigation”.