Hungarian government decrees that ownership of assets seized from Ukrainian cash transport could not be clarified at scene

The Hungarian government issued a decree stating that the legal ownership of the assets seized from Ukrainian cash-in-transit vehicles last Thursday could not be ascertained at the scene, and that the transport of the assets was not carried out in accordance with standard international practice. According to the government decree signed by Viktor Orbán and published late Monday evening in the Hungarian Gazette, it is in the interest of national security to find out where the Ukrainian assets seized in two cash-in-transit vehicles came from, what their destination was, and what their intended purpose was.

Under the decree, which entered into force on Monday night, the NationalTax and Customs Administration has 60 days to investigate the case in accordance with the provisions of the law on secret information gathering. According to the decree, the investigation must clarify

• the origin, destination, intended use, and purpose of the €35 million and $40 million in cash, as well as nine gold bars weighing 1 kilogram each
• the legal basis and purpose of their transport within Hungary;
• the identity of the transporters and their potential links to criminal or terrorist organizations;
• the consequences of the transit operation for Hungary's national security;
• the use of part of the cash and gold transported in Hungary, and if their use in Hungary comes to light, the persons and organizations to whom such assets were transferred, and whether criminal organizations, terrorist organizations or political organizations present in Hungary may have benefited from the transported assets.

While according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry there was no legal basis for the Hungarian authorities' interception of two Ukrainian cash transport vehicles on March 5 on the M0 ring road near Budapest, Máté Kocsis, leader of Fidesz's parliamentary group, submitted a bill on Monday in connection with the assets seized from the vehicles.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister promised that all those involved would be held accountable. “Not only because of the misappropriation of funds, but primarily because of the cruel treatment of seven Ukrainian citizens, which violates the European Convention on Human Rights and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.”

Andrii Sybiha considers it "surprising, to say the least" that Hungary has still not returned the assets seized last Thursday. The minister has condemned the Hungarian authorities' actions from the outset, calling them "state terrorism." The Ukrainian Foreign Minister said that the Hungarian authorities had "effectively taken hostage" the employees of the Ukrainian State Savings Bank and hinted at introducing sanctions against Hungary, saying that all those behind the operation would be held accountable.

According to the Ukrainians' lawyer, there was nothing unusual about the shipment that the cash transporters were taking from Austria to Ukraine, and none of them were personally suspected of anything. Dr. Adrienn Laczó told Telex over the weekend that the seven Ukrainian citizens who were involved in transporting the money were taken away by the Counterterrorism Center and the National Tax and Customs Administration commandos blindfolded and handcuffed.

Speaking on Monday's Egyenese Beszéd (Straight Talk) program on ATV, Lóránt Horváth, president of the Lawyers' Association and the appointed legal representative of the Ukrainian money transporters, said that, in his opinion, with the bill submitted on Monday, the Hungarian state had effectively admitted that it had unlawfully seized the assets of the Ukrainian money transport and that the bill was an attempt to make up for the part of the investigation that had been left undone.

On Sunday, the Ukrainian Savings Bank announced its demand that the Hungarian authorities return the money and gold seized from the cash-in-transit vehicles.