The dispute over seized funds and gold bars exacerbated the multilayered tensions between Budapest and Kiev
A Ukrainian state-owned bank has demanded that Hungary return tens of millions of dollars in cash and gold bars seized from an armored truck convoy, which Budapest claims could be tied to what officials have described as a “Ukraine war mafia.”
The dispute adds to mounting tensions between the neighbors over Russian oil, sanctions, financial aid to Ukraine, and the conscription of ethnic Hungarians into the Ukrainian army, which recently prompted Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to issue a personal threat to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Earlier this week, Hungarian police stopped two armored vehicles carrying around $80 million in US dollars and euros and nine kilograms of gold on suspicion of money laundering. Seven Ukrainian nationals traveling with the convoy were detained and later deported.
🚨 Watch the moment the “Ukrainian gold convoy” was stopped.In the video: armored cash vehicles carrying $40M, €35M and 9 kg of gold through 🇭🇺 Hungary toward Ukraine. Among those detained was a former Ukrainian intelligence general.This is not an ordinary transfer. Since… pic.twitter.com/LpMfQvlK71
— Balázs Orbán (@BalazsOrban_HU) March 6, 2026
In a statement released on Sunday, Ukraine’s Oschadbank demanded the return of what it described as “illegally seized” assets that had been deposited in the bank by Ukrainian citizens and businesses. According to Oschadbank, the funds were being transported from its partner, Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank, as part of a routine transfer.
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