National Bank of Ukraine expects transparent European investigation into Hungary's seizure of Oschadbank currency

Hungarian government’s Resolution No. 49/2026, adopted Tuesday, which retroactively classified the transit armored transport of currency by Oschadbank as a "threat to national security" and refused to return the funds, confirms that such confiscation is not aimed at enforcing rules or ensuring security, but rather represents a pre-planned political spectacle based solely on lawlessness, said National Bank of Ukraine Governor Andriy Pyshnyy.

"We are already communicating with our European partners about this. We rely on them to carry out an impartial, transparent investigation into this case and take practical action reaffirming that the rule of law remains undeniable in the EU," he wrote on the social network X on Tuesday evening.

Pyshnyy added that on the same day the National Assembly opposed Ukraine’s accession to the EU and swiftly adopted a resolution on the confiscation of Oschadbank’s funds.

"So this is not a legal process but political pressure," the NBU governor concluded.

As reported, on March 5, 2026, two armored vehicles belonging to Oschadbank’s cash-in-transit service, carrying seven employees, $40 million, EUR35 million, and 9 kg of bank gold, were detained in Hungary while conducting a routine transport of foreign currency and banking metals under an international agreement between Oschadbank and Raiffeisen Bank Austria.

Hungarian Minister of Construction and Transport János Lázár said on Tuesday that the seizure of funds belonging to Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank, which were being transported from Austria through Hungarian territory, was deliberate and that Hungary does not intend to return them to Ukraine. According to him, the seizure is linked to the suspension of oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline, which was damaged during a Russian shelling attack in January.

The Hungarian government adopted a resolution providing for the retention of the funds and valuables of Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank during an investigation into alleged threats to the country’s national security. The investigation period is limited to 60 days.