Seven employees of the state bank “Oschadbank,” who were detained in Hungary in March, are no longer subject to deportation from the country. This decision, along with the lifting of a three-year entry and stay ban in the Schengen area, was made by the General Directorate of Police for Foreign Affairs of Hungary. This became known on May 18.
This is reported by Finway
Decision of the Hungarian authorities and Oschadbank’s reaction
In addition to canceling the deportation, the Hungarian side ordered the removal of all records regarding the incident from state registers. Oschadbank explained that this decision became possible after the official notification from the competent constitutional protection authority of Hungary regarding the withdrawal of previous conclusions about a potential threat to national security posed by Ukrainian citizens.
“It is noteworthy that this notification came after the relevant decisions were challenged in court. At the same time, the Hungarian side did not wait for the conclusion of the court proceedings in Budapest and independently lifted the imposed restrictions,” the bank noted.
The head of the board of Oschadbank, Yuriy Kation, who led the bank’s team in Hungary, emphasized that the cancellation of the deportation confirms the institution’s correctness. According to him, the bank defended not only the rights of its employees but also the reputation of a state financial institution operating within the framework of international law. He stressed that a systematic legal approach, diplomatic support, and persistence in defending national interests yielded positive results even in complex international situations.
Context of the detention and subsequent events
Recall that on March 6, the Hungarian authorities detained seven employees of Oschadbank who were transporting valuables in two armored vehicles between Austria and Ukraine. According to the bank, the vehicles contained 40 million dollars, 35 million euros, and 9 kilograms of gold. The Ukrainian cashiers were released the same day, but they were officially deported from the country.
At the same time, the Hungarian side ordered its own investigation into the movement of funds and valuables across its territory. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto noted that the country has questions regarding the transportation of large sums of cash and plans to conduct a detailed investigation into the incident.
For its part, the National Police of Ukraine opened criminal proceedings regarding the abduction of Ukrainian citizens and the service vehicle of Oschadbank on the territory of Hungary.
On May 6, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Budapest had returned all seized funds and valuables to Oschadbank after the detention of the armored vehicles.