Oschadbank demands the return of its illegally seized property and valuables

After the illegal seizure of seven employees of Oschadbank, two collection vehicles, and valuables they were transporting in Hungary on March 5, 2026, the citizens of Ukraine returned home. Nevertheless, the cars and valuables are still being unlawfully detained.

Further protection of the rights of the Savings Bank of Ukraine (Oschadbank) in solving the incident in Hungary will consist of two directions.

The first: appeal against the decision on restrictive measures on the possibility of staying on the territory of the EU, which were unjustifiably imposed on the employees of the bank's collection team by the Hungarian Migration Service. The issue of violation of the rights of Oschadbank employees during their detention for more than a day without granting the right to access legal assistance and consular support will also be considered in detail.

The second direction: implementation of legal steps to return the property of the bank—two collection cars and valuables in the amount of 40 million US dollars, 35 million euros, and 9 kg of bank gold.

Oschadbank is absolutely sure of the legality of its actions. The full amount of information and supporting documents has been transferred to the National Bank of Ukraine. For additional confirmation of its legal position, the bank will contact one of the leading international companies to conduct an independent audit of the processes and contractual relations between all parties involved in the transportation of funds and valuables.

Once again, we present the facts regarding the incident in Hungary:

• transportation of funds and valuables was carried out within the framework of the international agreement between Oschadbank and Raiffeisen Bank Austria. The cargo was processed in accordance with international transportation rules and current European customs procedures;
• Oschadbank has a valid license for international transportation, issued by the State Transport Safety Service of Ukraine;
• during a full-scale war, the transportation of valuables by banks is carried out exclusively by land. Such transportation takes place on average every week;
• the collection team included 7 full-time employees, whose work experience in the bank ranges from 3 to 21 years. Traditionally, the delivery of international cargo is accompanied by one of the heads of the collection department of Oschadbank. This time the brigade was headed by the deputy director of the department;
• the funds that were transported from Vienna to Ukraine belong to Oschadbank. These funds were entrusted to the bank by Ukrainian citizens and businesses. They were heading to Ukraine for further use in circulation and saturation of the country's cash market;
• the packing of money and valuables was done in accordance with all regulatory and transportation requirements.

Oschadbank demands the return of its collection vehicles and the valuables they transported in full.