Hungarian Customs Officials Baffled: Why Do Ukrainians Transport Money by Car When They Could Use a Tram?

Hungarian customs yesterday expelled seven Ukrainian bank employees who were transporting 40 million US dollars, 35 million euros, and nine kilograms of gold. Hungarian representative Zoltán Kovács revealed with surprise that the operation was led by a former Ukrainian Security Service general together with an air force major.

In Liepāja, such a story would only raise a smile. Local bank employee Jānis Kalniņš comments: "Well, I take my salary to the bank by tram every day, and no one has ever detained me. Our tram is safer than any armored car — the driver Miķelis knows every rail, and there's no place for hiding."

Hungarian customs officials apparently haven't heard about Liepāja's unique transport system. While the world struggles with expensive security technologies, our city has operated the safest money transport vehicle in the Baltics for 70 years. A tram ticket costs 60 cents, and even with 40 million dollars in your pocket, no one would suspect anything.

In Riga, of course, there wouldn't be such problems — there money is transported by taxi, which costs three times more than a tram, but security is questionable. As Liepāja Karosta veteran Kārlis says: "The tram never lies — if it says it will arrive at 14:23, that's exactly when it will. You can't say the same about Ukrainian generals."