Following Ukraine’s foreign minister’s accusation that Budapest was holding them captive, Hungary’s tax authorities said it had detained seven Ukrainians and two cash-transport vehicles on suspicion of money-laundering.Their present well-being and the causes behind it are still unknown,” Andrii Sybiha said on X.We’ve already written a formal letter requesting our citizens’ quick release.”
The seven employees were in two vehicles with $80 million (£60 million) in cash and 9 kg of gold in a routine shipment between Austria and Ukraine, according to Oschadbank, the public savings bank of Ukraine. It claimed that they were “unjustifiably detained” and that GPS data revealed their cars were in Budapest. One member of the gang was a former commander in Ukraine’s intelligence service, according to Hungary’s tax authorities, which said on Friday that it was pursuing criminal charges.
According to a statement from the national tax and customs agency, “more than $900 million, €420 million, and 146 kilograms of gold bars were transported to Ukraine through the territory of Hungary this year alone.” Due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, relations between Hungary and Ukraine have worsened, and a verbal spat about stopping Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline in Ukraine has resulted.
During his routine Friday radio interview, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that “transit shipments” crucial to Ukraine would be stopped until a dispute over Russian oil supply was resolved, although he did not mention the seven bank employees. According to Hungarian media, the Ukrainian-registered trucks were raided on Thursday by black-clad personnel from Hungary’s TEK counterterrorism center, after which their caravan made its way to Budapest.
The foreign minister of Ukraine charged Hungary with “state terrorism and racketeering” in response to the incident.We are discussing Hungary’s hostage-taking and money-stealing,” Sybiha stated on X.Considered Russia’s closest EU friend, Orbán has charged Ukraine of purposefully blocking Russian oil flowing through the pipeline. Orban has vowed to “force the Ukrainians to restart deliveries” after a Russian airstrike damaged the pipeline in January, according to Kyiv.
Also Read:
Zelensky Worries That Trump’s Attack on Iran May Harm Ukraine
A Few Aircraft Depart the UAE, but there is still Interruption Due to the Strikes in Iran
