HATC SAMPLE EDITION:
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27th March, 2025
Varga to do away with foundations following losses of billions of forints
New MNB governor Mihaly Varga has told reporters that he has informed Prime Minister Viktor Orban that he would like to review the operations of the central bank following reports that foundations set up by the MNB had squandered several hundred billion forints.
“I want to create a transparent, clear structure, a structure that allows the central bank to focus on its core tasks”, he said at a Tuesday press conference.
Varga is apparently trying to distance himself from the foundations in every possible way, HVG observes, as one of his first actions was to replace the head of Optima, which manages the foundation’s assets, and last week it was revealed that he had prevented the “outsourcing” of funds managed by Optima to a private equity fund linked to friends of Gyorgy Matolcsy’s son Adam.
According to reports published by the State Audit Office (ASZ) last week, the central bank foundations and the network of companies organized around them, partly hidden behind private equity funds, have burned through approximately Ft 266 billion of public money since they were set up in 2014.
The ASZ has also filed a complaint in the case on suspicion of crimes against property and violations of economic order.
Varga did not give a substantive reply to questions about whether his predecessor Gyorgy Matolcsy could be held responsible for the situation at the foundations and its asset manager, nor whether he sees a chance to recover the assets.
The Matolcsy family has created a system that is difficult to understand and extremely complicated, meaning that it is not entirely clear how and how much money can be saved from this, HVG writes.
The foundation empire, which merged into a foundation called Pallas Athene Domus Meriti in 2019, with the effective co-operation of the newly created asset manager, Optima, burned through its entire assets, which amount to Ft 460 billion at present value, by 2024, according to 444.
In addition, the foundation’s trustees were unable to account for the Ft 127.5 billion obtained from the foundation that maintains the Neumann Janos University in Kecskemet. (hvg.hu; 444.hu)
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27th March, 2025
MBH name deleted from ASZ report on foundations
A reference to MBH bank, owned by Lorinc Meszaros, has been deleted from the final report by the State Audit Office (ASZ) on irregularities at the MNB’s foundations, Telex reports.
The change was made from an earlier draft obtained by investigative news website Direkt36.
The report details serious shortcomings in the management of assets set up by the MNB, including a euro 170 million loan from MBH bank.
According to the draft, the foundations’ asset manager, Optima, received funding from two additional sources beyond the central bank foundations: the Neumann Janos University Foundation in Kecskemet – whose management the ASZ also criticised – and MBH bank, which is partially state-owned.
Optima took out the euro 170 million loan from MBH.
The published report retains the loan amount but omits the lender’s name, referring only to “a short-term bank loan” or “a bank loan”.
The report refers to MBH, which is listed on the stock exchange, only as “the bank disbursing the loan”. (telex.hu; hvg.hu; mfor.hu; 444.hu; forbes.hu; nepszava.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Momentum MP ready to step aside for Magyar in 2026
One day after Peter Magyar announced that he will be a candidate for Parliament in the electoral constituency that includes Viktor Orban’s Budapest residence, incumbent MP Miklos Hajnal announced on Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in 2026.
Hajnal, a Momentum party MP, stated in a Facebook post that he is stepping back to support Magyar’s national campaign, respecting the Tisza party leader’s decision to distance himself from previous opposition figures.
He added that there is strong sentiment in the 12th District for a change of government.
At the end of his Facebook post, Hajnal urged Magyar to maintain his campaign’s energy, especially in areas needing a stronger push for change, adding, “your real opponent is in the Carmelite monastery and Hatvanpuszta”, referring to Orban’s office and his countryside estate.
Orban has not run as an individual candidate since a losing bid in 1994, but has always been elected from the Fidesz party list.
Magyar criticised Orban on Tuesday for avoiding individual candidacy and emphasised his own commitment to securing a direct mandate from voters.
The district’s Fidesz constituency chairman, Attila Steiner, said in response to the Tisza party leader’s announcement that, as he and Magyar have known each other well for decades, he is very happy that Magyar is running in the district, adding “I can’t wait to talk openly about your old affairs.” (hvg.hu; index.hu; telex.hu; nepszava.hu; 444.hu; 24.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Kuria says police should not have banned demonstration
The Kuria, Hungary’s supreme court, ruled on Tuesday night that authorities had no grounds to forbid the protest rally on the Erzsebet Bridge led by independent MP Akos Hadhazy that evening.
In banning the gathering, police cited concerns about traffic disruption, but the Kuria found this justification insufficient, as the authorities did not provide enough evidence to justify the order to hold the demonstration at a different location.
The court emphasised that minor traffic disruptions over six hours do not justify banning the protest.
Hadhazy pointed out that, despite the official restrictions, the rally against the ban on Pride events and in favour of the right to assembly attracted a crowd large enough to close roads leading to the bridge.
The MP emphasised the importance of pushing back against what he described as the government’s drift towards dictatorship.
The goal is not merely to close bridges, Hadhazy declared, but to demand change and not stop until achieving it. (telex.hu; hvg.hu; index.hu; 444.hu; 24.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Village shops to get Ft 3mn subsidy
The government will provide up to Ft 3 million in grants for shops operating in villages with less than 2,000 inhabitants, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Facebook after Wednesday’s cabinet meeting,
This follows a similar measure, also offering up to Ft 3 million in state funds for pubs in villages with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants.
Almost everything at the cabinet meeting was about villages, according to Orban, as “we believe that villages are not the past, but the future, so 2025 will be a breakthrough year in villages as well.”
The government is also ordering banks to install ATMs in small villages and has launched a church renovation programme. (hirado.hu; portfolio.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Sovereignty Protection Office spends billions on PR
The Office for the Defence of Sovereignty has allocated more than Ft 1.6 billion for communications with media companies linked to Gyula Balasy, Magyar Hang reports.
According to publicly available contracts, Hill Sound System received Ft 13.8 million for event-related services, while historian Aron Mathe was commissioned to write a book for Ft 13.6 million.
The bulk of the spending, Ft 1.6 billion, goes to PR efforts under a framework contract with the National Communications Office, a method that excludes all other bids.
Launched in February 2024, the Sovereignty Office claims to counter foreign influence, but has focused on discrediting anti-corruption NGOs and independent media critical of the government.
The Office has investigated opposition campaign financing and published reports accusing targeted organisations of spreading disinformation and serving foreign interests.
The Office has published documents that look like official reports and scientific analyses, accusing the targeted organisations and newspapers of spreading disinformation and serving foreign interests, Telex writes. (telex.hu; hvg.hu)
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27th March, 2025
TI takes case against Sovereignty Office to ECHR
Transparency International (TI) Hungary has filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights regarding the Sovereignty Protection Act, the anti-corruption organisation writes in a press release.
The NGO argues that the law establishing the Office for the Protection of Sovereignty seriously violates the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, fair administrative and judicial proceedings, and legal remedies, which are protected by the Basic Law as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.
The organisation turned to the Constitutional Court last summer after the Office for the Protection of Sovereignty launched a “unique – comprehensive – investigation” against TI Hungary. The organization then requested that the relevant provisions of the Sovereignty Protection Act be annulled, but the court rejected their constitutional complaint. (telex.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Ruszin-Szendi blames ministry for grenade injury
Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, former armed forces chief of staff and Tisza Party defence expert, blamed the Defence Ministry for the grenade explosion that cost a 29-year-old government employee both of her hands.
He argued that leadership failures, not just those conducting the training, led to the tragedy.
Ruszin-Szendi suggested that Defence Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky, who has no military background, should resign.
The former armed forces commander revealed letters indicating that government employees were “strongly encouraged” to participate, raising doubts about the programme’s voluntariness.
Ruszin-Szendi questioned how public administration employees were allowed to handle live grenades, stating that even he was only given one after four weeks of basic training.
Our Homeland MP Novak Elod, a former reservist, told 24 that in his experience, even reservists were not permitted to handle live grenades during training.
The injured woman, who was critically wounded when the grenade exploded at the Ujdorogd training ground, was a secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office.
It was also learned that after her university studies, she played the piano and trained at a fitness school.
Criminal proceedings in connection with the grenade accident have been initiated at the Gyor prosecutor’s office, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced in response to a request from Magyar Hang.
The organization, led by Peter Polt, stated that it will not provide further information until the proceedings are completed. (hvg.hu; 24.hu; nepszava.hu; 444.hu; index.hu; hang.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Most see tax exemption for mothers as benefitting the wealthy
Even 46% of Fidesz voters believe it is not right that the tax benefit for mothers helps wealthier families to a greater extent, according to a Publicus Institute survey commissioned by Nepszava.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced in in February that mothers with three children will be able to receive a lifetime income tax exemption from October of this year, and that the exemption will be introduced in stages for those with two children until 2030.
It has since emerged that the waiver will also be extended to mothers under 30 raising one child.
The Publicus Institute found that the majority of Hungarians consider the tax exemption for mothers to be a good thing. Overall, 56% of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed with this measure, while 40% said no.
However, 71% disapprove of the fact that the measure, similar to previously introduced tax breaks, will benefit higher-income, wealthier families to a greater extent.
Even the majority of Fidesz voters are inclined to be critical on this point: 46% say it is not right, compared to 42% who support it.
When asked about tax exemptions as a way to encourage young people to have children, 59% said “no” and 7% “rather not”, with Fidesz and Our Homeland voters being the only groups who largely supported this approach. (nepszava.hu; 24.hu; hvg.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Foot-and-mouth disease spreads to cattle farm
The foot-and-mouth disease continues to spread in northwest Hungary, with a new case detected at a cattle farm in Level, a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county.
All 2,300 animals at the farm must now be culled.
The infection first emerged three weeks ago in Kisbajcs, a village 50km away.
Cases were also confirmed across the Danube in nearby Slovakia last week, affecting three farms.
Hungary’s chief veterinarian has ordered a livestock census in all villages within the protection and observation zones, covering pigs, cattle, sheep, and goats.
The measures have since been tightened, requiring backyard farmers in affected areas to slaughter their animals by March 31. (telex.hu; portfolio.hu; 444.hu; hvg.hu; index.hu; 24.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Slovakia tightens border control due to foot-and-mouth disease
Slovakia is introducing strict border controls in response to the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in Hungary, the Hungarian-language website Dennik reported on Wednesday.
Slovak Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok announced that Slovakia will temporarily close smaller border crossings on the Hungarian border in western Slovakia.
Decontamination gates and disinfection stations will be installed at the larger crossings of Rajka, Medve, Komarom and Parkany. (napunk.dennik.sk; portfolio.hu; economx.hu; nepszava.hu; 444.hu; hvg.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Szijjarto promotes MOL operations in Russia
Hungarian energy company MOL is thriving in Russia, creating opportunities to expand its role there, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a brief Facebook post from Moscow on Wednesday.
Szijjarto said he agreed to “maintain energy co-operation” in talks with deputy prime minister Alexander Novak.
Photographs from the meeting showed MOL CEO Zsolt Hernadi and Gyorgy Bacsa, the group’s strategic operations chief, in attendance.
Szijjarto stressed that any attack on energy infrastructure supplying Hungary was unacceptable as he welcomed the mutual pledge by Ukraine and Russia – described by him as “the US-Russian agreement” – to cease such strikes, calling it a move in Hungary’s national interest.
Szijjarto said discussions also covered expanding economic co-operation in sectors not subject to EU sanctions, particularly pharmaceuticals and agriculture. (portfolio.hu; hvg.hu; magyarnemzet.hu; index.hu; 444.hu)
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27th March, 2025
OTP plans bid for HSBC Malta unit
OTP bank is one of several potential bidders preparing to acquire HSBC’s Maltese subsidiary, according to the Times of Malta.
The acquisition would mark OTP’s first expansion outside the former Eastern Bloc.
Having pursued an international expansion strategy for many years, OTP currently operates subsidiaries in ten countries.
Last year, it was the market leader in five: Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, and Montenegro.
The bank also has a presence in Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Albania, and Serbia. (timesofmalta.com; g7.hu; portfolio.hu)
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27th March, 2025
4iG Jaszai meets Boeing leaders
CEO Gellert Jaszai of 4iG, recently named Hungary’s ambassador for the development of international business relations, held talks with Boeing in Washington yesterday, according to his LinkedIn post.
“We are continuing to strengthen our ties with the US, emphasising cutting-edge technologies such as the space and defence sectors, and beyond”, he said.
Jaszai presented Hungary’s potential in space research and the space industry to the House subcommittee on aeronautics.
He said he had also addressed defence and security matters with the national security advisors to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s team.
Jaszai presented 4iG’s space plans to Elon Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in December and talked with Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, in February. (portfolio.hu; hvg.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Govt may control more food prices
Economy Minister Marton Nagy has suggested that additional food products could be subject to price margin caps if prices for as-yet unregulated items start to rise.
Speaking in a Facebook video on Wednesday, Nagy said prices for around 1,000 products subject to the margin cap have fallen by an average of 17.7%, with 874 items becoming cheaper.
Some of the steepest declines include priced reductions of 31% for lard, 27% for sour cream, 25% for margarine 22% for strudel flour and 20.6% for fine flour.
The minister expects these measures to push inflation down to 5% in March and below 4% in April. (portfolio.hu; origo.hu; telex.hu; mfor.hu; index.hu; 24.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Varga appoints Toth to run BSE
The MNB has appointed Tibor Toth as the next CEO of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE), effective May 1, it was announced yesterday.
New MNB governor Mihaly Varga thanked outgoing CEO Richard Vegh for his nine years at the helm of the exchange and said they will continue to count on his knowledge and experience in the future.
Toth held senior roles at Citibank and KDB bank before serving as a state secretary in the finance ministry.
Varga aims to develop a more liquid and transparent capital market to help fund Hungarian businesses.
He also plans to strengthen the BSE’s regional role and contribute to the integration of EU capital markets. (portfolio.hu; telex.hu; magyarnemzet.hu; index.hu; forbes.hu)
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27th March, 2025
Budapest Airport strike prevention talks fail
Talks on a new contract between Budapest Airport and its three unions have failed to reach agreement despite four rounds of negotiations led by CEO François Berisot, Portfolio reports.
The airport manager maintains that its unilateral 4% wage increase is fair, but unions argue that this amounts to a pay cut in real terms.
“Employees’ wages have grown dynamically in recent years, and the company’s benefits package is competitive and meets labour market needs,” Budapest Airport stated.
Unions will decide on their next steps in the coming days as a strike remains on the table. (portfolio.hu; hvg.hu; 24.hu)
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