NBU announces independent audit of cash transport from Austria to Ukraine via Hungary
The National Bank of Ukraine is initiating an independent audit of the processes and contractual relations between all parties involved in the transportation of funds and valuables from Austria to Ukraine via Hungary.
According to Ukrinform, this was announced by NBU Governor Andrii Pyshnyi on Facebook.
“On Friday, we breathed a sigh of relief when Oschadbank employees returned home. But now we are focusing all our efforts on ensuring that this incident receives a proper legal assessment and response from the European community,” the NBU governor said.
He noted that "the currency valuables transported by the collectors remain in Hungary without legal grounds. However, their return is only one piece of a large puzzle. We are faced with a situation where the consul cannot reach his country's citizens, where lawyers do not have access to their clients, where political statements are made without any confirmation, and where discrediting becomes the main goal. Such actions cannot go without proper assessment. Therefore, it is necessary to dot all the i's and cross all the t's in this case once and for all."
"Oschadbank did not violate the law, and its employees performed their work within the framework of international agreements and on legal grounds. That's all. In order to remove all questions and manipulations, we were the first to advocate for a transparent and comprehensive investigation," Pyshnyi emphasized.
In particular, Oschadbank submitted to the National Bank a complete set of supporting documents confirming the legality of the transportation of currency valuables through Hungary and the presence of the collection team that accompanied the cargo.
Pyshnyi recalled that the relevant services of the NBU checked these documents and they did not raise any questions.
In addition, the NBU is initiating an independent audit of the processes and contractual relations between all parties involved in the transportation of funds and valuables, which will be conducted by an international company. The National Bank will announce separately who exactly this will be, Pyshnyi noted.
According to him, the National Bank is actively communicating with its European partners to ensure that this incident does not go unanswered.
Appeals are being prepared that will be addressed to the management of the European Central Bank, the Austrian Central Bank, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and others.
“Our European partners and institutions must be able to obtain all the necessary information and access to documents and have their say on this situation,” Pyshnyi said.
The head of the NBU is calling on the Hungarian side to support the independent audit we have initiated.
As reported by Ukrinform, on the night of March 6, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that in Budapest, the Hungarian authorities took seven Ukrainian citizens, employees of Oschadbank, hostage and stole the money they were transporting. According to him, seven Oschadbank employees were traveling in two bank vehicles between Austria and Ukraine, transporting cash as part of regular services between state banks. Later that day, the Hungarian tax service confirmed the detention of seven Oschadbank cash collectors and two vehicles carrying cash traveling from Austria to Ukraine, stating that it was conducting a criminal investigation on suspicion of money laundering. The head of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andrii Pyshnyi, said that representatives of the NBU were urgently traveling to Hungary to clarify the situation with the detained cash collectors and Oschadbank vehicles. Later, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács announced that seven Ukrainian cash collectors detained by Hungarian tax and customs authorities would be deported from Hungary. On March 6, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended that Ukrainian citizens refrain from traveling to Hungary amid the kidnapping of employees and theft of Oschadbank property in Budapest. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha stated that Hungary had no grounds for detaining Oschadbank employees and their convoy and that its actions violated international law. On the same day, Sybiha announced that Ukraine had secured the release of seven Ukrainians who had been detained in Budapest and that they had already crossed the Ukrainian border.
Sybiha called on Hungary to immediately return the detained property and valuables of Oschadbank, and on Kyiv's partners to express their position on this incident.
Photo: NBU