BUDAPEST, March 12 (Reuters) - Hungary returned two seized armoured bank vehicles to Ukraine on Thursday but withheld cash and gold worth approximately $82 million, citing an investigation into alleged money laundering, a move that Kyiv has denounced as theft.
Relations between Hungary and Ukraine, already strained by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's close ties to Russia, reached a new low last week when Hungary detained seven Ukrainians transporting cash and gold.
Kyiv accused Budapest of taking the bank employees, engaged in a legitimate transfer, hostage in order to pressure Ukraine into restarting suspended oil shipments.
Those detained were expelled by Hungary and crossed into Ukraine on Friday.
Ukraine has demanded the return of the seized assets, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Sunday describing Hungary's actions as an "unprecedented act of state banditism and racketeering".
The detainees' lawyer, Lorant Horvath, told reporters on Thursday that the Ukrainian bank believed the money transport was "entirely lawful".
"Oschadbank will use all legal means at its disposal to recover its assets," he said.
Hungary's parliament passed a law proposed by Orban's Fidesz party on Tuesday, allowing the tax authority to retain the cash and gold for 60 days while it investigates the origin and destination of the assets and evaluates any implications for Hungary's national security.
The tensions come as Orban faces a serious electoral challenge to his 16-year rule on April 12. He has made the war in Ukraine a central plank of his campaign, saying the centre-right opposition would drag Hungary into the conflict, which the opposition has repeatedly denied.
Orban has also vetoed new EU sanctions on Moscow as well as a huge loan for Ukraine over the oil dispute.
(Reporting by Anita Komuves and Krisztina Fenyo, editing by Andrei Khalip)
