Hungarian Minister of Construction and Transport János Lázár stated that the seizure of the batch of money was not accidental and is connected to the blockage of the Druzhba oil pipeline. According to him, the confiscated gold, dollars, and euros will not be returned to Ukraine until oil begins to flow through the pipeline.
Source: PRYAMYI
Lázár expressed surprise at the method of transporting the funds, noting that the money was delivered in large amounts of cash and gold bars. At the same time, he noted that the dollar remains an important financial instrument during war and economic instability.
The minister added that many questions remain unresolved in the case, including the origin of the funds and the organization of their transportation. This concerns financial operations between Raiffeisen Bank International and the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, which may have been carried out several times since the beginning of the full-scale war.
According to Lázár, the Hungarian side is assessing various risks, including money laundering, financing of organized crime, or political activities. “The longer the pipeline remains blocked, the more thorough the investigations will be,” the minister concluded.