Hungarian Minister of Construction and Transport János Lázár said that Budapest will not return the seized funds of the Ukrainian state bank. According to him, the money will remain in Hungary at least until the Druzhba oil pipeline resumes operation.
He said this on March 9 during a speech at the Lázárinfó Express stop in Gödöllő, writes Telex.
According to Lázár, it was no coincidence that the Hungarian authorities intercepted the cash convoy heading to Ukraine. He said that this step was related to the closure of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
“We did not do what we did by accident, we will not return the money to them,” the minister said.
According to him, the seized gold, dollars, and euros will remain in Hungary until oil transportation resumes.
“The money will remain here for now. We are waiting for the oil pipeline to reopen and for new Ukrainian cash convoys to pass through Hungary,” Lazar said.
The minister also said that the Hungarian authorities do not know who sent the funds or for what purpose. Lazar questioned the need to transport funds in the form of cash and gold bars.
According to the minister, investigators are also examining possible risks related to money laundering, organized crime financing, and political financing. He also stated that the actions of the Hungarian authorities were not independent of the oil pipeline shutdown.
“If we are being blackmailed, we cannot be so stupid as to put up with it,” Lazar said.
He added that, according to him, more money was transported each month than the cost of the oil that was coming in or its coverage.
According to Gerhard Bösche, former Austrian CEO of Ukraine’s PrivatBank, transporting cash to Ukraine via Hungary became common practice after Ukrainian airports were closed in 2022. He called allegations of money laundering in this case ridiculous.
Raiffeisen Bank International did not confirm the transport of funds intended for Ukraine’s Oschadbank, citing banking secrecy. At the same time, a representative of the bank said that the institution has been trading in banknotes for many years and cooperates with central banks, competent authorities, and distributors within the scope of this activity.
The Hungarian Tax and Customs Administration reported that it had opened criminal proceedings on suspicion of money laundering in the case of Ukrainian money transporters detained in Hungary. According to Hungarian media reports, this case could become one of the topics of the election campaign.