According to him, the cash was transported to support stable cash turnover in Ukraine, and Oschadbank is the only commercial bank in the country with a valid license to transport funds across the EU, which allows purchasing currency without intermediaries.
“Ground logistics today is the only route for the delivery of foreign currency into the territory of Ukraine, since with the beginning of a full-scale invasion, air traffic is unavailable,” Katsion noted.
He emphasized that during the war, the demand for cash currency remains consistently high, which creates an additional burden on the market. Now this demand is partially compensated by the regulator’s resources.
“At the moment, Oschadbank has suspended the import of cash to Ukraine. The National Bank covers the demand for the existing market from its own reserves,” he said.
At the same time, the head of the board noted that such a model cannot remain a long-term solution.
“This situation requires a solution, because the volumes are quite significant, and the population needs it, and the financial system needs to saturate the market with physical money,” Katsion emphasized.
He cited statistics that demonstrate the scale of demand for cash currency among the population.
“The difference between the amount bought and sold by the population in 2025 alone amounted to $6.8 billion, which must be imported into the territory of Ukraine. In 2025, $1.451 million and €377 million were sold to the population through bank cash desks. About $522 million and €82 million were purchased from the population,” explained Katsion.
Commenting on the bank's further actions, he said that since the incident in Hungary, no new cash deliveries have been made. The bank is currently working on revising its logistics routes.
“We are developing new safe routes taking into account the risks that we saw using the territory of Hungary,” said the head of the financial institution.
Context
On the night of March 6, the press service of Oschadbank reported that two vehicles of the Oschadbank collection service were groundlessly detained in Hungary during the regular transportation of foreign currency and bank metals. According to the bank, the amount of valuables in the stolen cars amounted to $40 million, €35 million and 9 kg of gold. Subsequently, information appeared in the media that the Oschadbank cars were located on the territory of the Anti-Terrorism Center of Hungary.
The press service of the Hungarian government informed that the Ukrainians were detained “as part of criminal proceedings on suspicion of money laundering.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on March 7 that Hungary would conduct an investigation into the origin of the funds transported by cash collectors.
On March 9, the leader of the faction of Hungary's ruling Fidesz party, Mate Kocsis, submitted a bill to parliament that provides for the seizure of funds and valuables of Oschadbank until the completion of the investigation in Hungary. In response, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga said that Kyiv would bring to justice all those involved in the theft.
On March 8, Oschadbank published a demand to return cash-in-transit vehicles and funds illegally detained in Hungary that were transported by bank employees through the country. The bank noted that the transportation was carried out within the framework of an international agreement between Oschadbank and the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank. On March 10, the Hungarian parliament adopted a law to investigate the origin of funds transported by Ukrainian collectors.
