<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/06/hungary-seizes-millions-euros-cash-gold-ukrainian-convoy>
"An increasingly acrimonious spat between Hungary and Ukraine has escalated
further, as Budapest impounded two Ukrainian armoured bank vehicles carrying
millions of euros of hard cash as well as bars of gold.
Seven Ukrainian citizens accompanying the convoy were also arrested. Hungarian
officials said the detained Ukrainians had intelligence links and suggested the
money could be of dubious origin, while Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii
Sybiha, accused Budapest of “taking hostages and stealing money”.
Sybiha also accused the pro-Russian Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, of
cooking up the scandal for political gain, ahead of Hungarian elections next
month.
Hungary’s national tax and customs administration said it had opened a
money-laundering investigation over the shipment, which it said was made up of
$40m and €35m in cash, as well as 9kg of gold. It said one of those arrested
was “a former Ukrainian intelligence service general”.
Oschadbank, Ukraine’s state savings bank, said its staff were transporting cash
and gold between between Austria and Ukraine in a “routine trip”, carried out
by land because of restrictions on air travel in Ukraine.
But Orbán’s political director, Balázs Orbán, cast doubt on the shipment:
“Armoured vehicles full of cash and gold moving across Hungary is not how
legitimate financial transactions usually work,” he wrote on X. “The real
question is simple: who stands behind this money and what is it meant to
finance?”
The seizure follows a dispute over gas supplies, in which Hungary and Slovakia
have accused Kyiv of deliberately stalling on repairs to an oil pipeline after
it was hit in an apparent Russian drone attack. In response, Orbán vetoed
further EU sanctions on Russia as well as an additional €90bn loan for
Ukraine."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
