HATC SAMPLE EDITION:
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28th August, 2025
Poll finds huge support for direct election of president
Only 29% of Hungarians agree that, according to the current Fundamental Law, the Parliament elects the President of the Republic on the proposal of the Prime Minister, according to the latest survey by Median.
Some 5% did not want to/could not answer, but 66% believe that the president should be elected directly, through a referendum.
After Katalin Novak’s resignation, several opposition parties began to demand direct presidential elections and amendments to the Fundamental Law, and the Tisza Party also adopted this as its banner, so party sympathy is decisive on this issue.
Only 12% of Tisza supporters, 21% of voters of other opposition parties and those without a party preference are satisfied with the current indirect presidential elections, whereas 61% of Fidesz supporters are satisfied.
At the same time, one-third of Fidesz supporters would be happier if the head of state was elected directly.
The results are based on a survey of a representative sample of 1,000 eligible voters conducted June 3-6. The margin of error is 3.1%. (24.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Magyar demands that Orban father reveal his finances
Tisza Party leader Peter Magyar alleges in an open letter to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s father, Gyozo, that the elder Oban’s declared income of recent years was not enough to finance the renovation and construction works at the Orban family’ estate in Hatvanpuszta.
Magyar said Orban’s father earlier claimed that he had financed the purchase of the 300-hectare property and the related 7,000m2 construction project from the income of his own company Dolomit.
However, Magyar writes that the construction works – including an underground garage, a children’s pool, a fence, and a solar cell park – could have cost Ft 15-20 billion, whereas the money available to Orban would have been Ft 5 billion.
Magyar asked Orban senior in the letter to reveal where the money came from, and, “if you really want to clear your son”, to make public all documents, contracts, invoices and disbursement of funds.
He closed his post with a severe warning, saying “if this does not happen, then in ten months, after a change of cabinet, the authorities will investigate every item, one by one, brick by brick”. (atv.hu; 10perc.hu; kontroll.hu; 444.hu; index.hu; nepszava.hu; 24.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Magyar Nemzet writer publishes book on Magyar titled The Traitor
Magyar Nemzet promoted on its front page a book written by Tamas Pilhal about Tisza party leader Peter Magyar named Arulo (“The Traitor”).
Magyar himself posted a copy of the cover in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
The text alongside the picture read: “If you did not happen to know what this base, corrupt ruling power spends our money on instead of developing hospitals, schools and railways and managing the livelihood crisis and what it concerns itself with, here is an example”.
Magyar claimed the book will be available from September in the LIbri bookstore chain.
Regarding the book’s author, Pilhal, Magyar said he is the person who likes to take photos from under the skirts of teenage girls, alluding to an event in 2019, when, as a staff member of Pesti Sracok, Pilhal published an article attempting to humiliate 19-year-old student activist Blanka Nagy. (nepszava.hu; 24.hu; hvg.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Professor alleges wrongful dismissal over LGBTQ study
Bulcsu Bognar, until recently an associate professor at the Peter Pazmany Catholic University, has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, claiming he was dismissed from his job because he wrote an essay on LGBTQ matters.
Bognar, a professor of Communication Science, was dismissed on June 20 after he produced a study of how the faithful relate to LGBTQ people.
Now, with the assistance of the civil liberties union TASZ, he is attempting to get a court to declare his dismissal null and void.
The university explained the dismissal as the result of a structural transformation but Bognar said this is just a pretext. He maintains that the university does not support those who concern themselves in their work with issues affecting the LGBTQ community.
Bognar was the only person affected by the “reorganization”, even though he was considered the most highly qualified lecturer at the Institute of Communication and Media Studies based on objective indicators, Nepszava writes. He had the most scientific publications and was ahead of his colleagues in the number of internationally recognized studies and citations. (nepszava.hu; szabadeuropa.hu; telex.hu)
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28th August, 2025
MOL prepared if Druzhba pipeline remains idle
There would not be a fuel shortage in Hungary if the Druzhba crude oil pipeline were to be shut down, but oil would be more expensive, MOL chairman and CEO Zsolt Hernadi told Mandiner magazine in an interview.
MOL and its subsidiaries currently provide the region with relatively cheap refined products from Russian oil, so a prolonged disruption could have serious consequences, he remarked.
“If Hungary is forced to rely solely on the Croatian route for crude oil, the costs will rise sharply”, Hernadi said.
He added that MOL is prepared for different scenarios: “We are prepared because we are thinking. But let’s not underestimate the importance of energy security.”
The Slovnaft refinery in Bratislava supplies much of the diesel that is imported into Ukraine. Without Druzhba flows, those deliveries would halt, said Hernadi, stressing that “This is not a threat, this is a fact.”
Slovak law prohibits the export of refined products once strategic reserves are tapped, further limiting options.
Hungary itself holds reserves, but Hernadi warned that if supplies are not restored by September and the country is forced to dip into them, another critical stage in regional energy security will be reached. (mandiner.hu; index.hu; 24.hu; portfolio.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Repair of oil pipeline will take days
The restoration of the Druzhba oil pipeline damaged in a Ukrainian attack will take days, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjaro said on social media on Wednesday.
He said he spoke with Russian deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin on the telephone and was told that deliveries could re-start from Thursday in a test form and in lower quantities.
Hungary’s reserves are sufficient, and for the time being there is no need to draw on the strategic reserve, Szijjarto added. (telex.hu; index.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Wage growth near 10% in June
The average gross wage was Ft 704,400 a month in June, up by 9.7% from one year earlier, the Central Statistics Office announced on Wednesday.
The average net wage was Ft 484,200, increasing by 9.6% year-on-year.
The median gross salary was Ft 567,700 and the median net salary was Ft 395,000, exceeding the amounts in the same periods of 2024 by 10.3% and 10.5%, respectively.
Real wages rose by 4.8%, while consumer prices rose by 4.6%.
In the first half, gross wages were up by 9.2% to Ft 692,800, while net wages increased by 9% to Ft 476,100.
Analyst Peter Virovacz of ING bank noted that wage growth in construction has slowed, while in manufacturing it has returned to double-digit levels.
He suggested that the sharp rise in the overall average may reflect the dismissal of lower-paid workers. (ksh.hu; magyarnamzet.hu; portfolio.hu; hirado.hu; mfor.hu; telex.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Government hopes to save promised wage increases
The Economy Ministry has accused the EU’s customs regime of inflicting serious harm on both Hungarian and European businesses, threatening industry, employment and the implementation of the country’s three-year wage agreement.
In response, the government has begun drafting an industry and job protection plan.
Discussions have begun with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Permanent Consultation Forum of the Competition Sector, as well as the Government.
Both employers and unions have warned for months that a proposed 13% rise in the minimum wage next year is untenable, given Hungary’s weaker-than-expected economic outlook.
The tripartite wage pact agreed last year assumed that robust GDP growth would sustain significant pay rises.
With growth faltering, however, officials and social partners are now under pressure to reconcile wage expectations with harsher economic realities. (portfolio.hu; telex.hu; magyarhirlap.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Pension funds pay out for home purchases
Pension funds may disburse a total of Ft 50-51 billion for home purchase purposes, an opportunity opened only this year, Portfolio calculates.
This shows up in the huge increase in the “other” purpose payout in the statistics.
Assets managed by pension funds rose to a record Ft 2.3 trillion by the end of June.
This translates into an average individual balance of Ft 2.15 million, equivalent to roughly nine months of today’s average pension of Ft 245,000.
Savers over 60 years of age hold significantly more assets, averaging Ft 3.3 million.
In the second quarter of 2025 the funds delivered Ft 57 billion in net returns, equal to 2.5% in just three months. Over the past year, the return has been 10%. (portfolio.hu; 24.hu; economx.hu; magyarhirlap.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Hungary allows transit of Ukrainian produce
“Ukraine will not export either corn or wheat to Hungary until our country requests it”, Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said after meeting Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, in his office on Wednesday.
Hungary will continue to prioritise the interests of its farmers by maintaining the import ban on Ukrainian agricultural products. However, transit through the country will continue to be permitted under strict control, he added. (magyarhirlap.hu; magyarnemzet.hu)
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28th August, 2025
4iG to co-operate with Condor
4iG announced that its space and defence subsidiary has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Brazilian firm Condor Industria Quimica – Condor NonLethal Technologies, a member of the United Arab Emirates-based EDGE Group.
The parties agree to jointly explore and develop the possibility of establishing a regional centre in Hungary for non-lethal, traumatic defence solutions.
The co-operation may include training and research programmes, technology transfer, and logistics activities.
Condor is a global leader in limited-effect defence equipment and technologies, developing and manufacturing rubber bullets, tear gas grenades, electroshock devices, and pyrotechnic products in more than 80 countries around the world. (portfolio.hu; novekedes.hu; mfor.hu; economx.hu; magyarnemzet.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Wizz Air shifts focus back to Central and Eastern Europe
Wizz Air is redirecting capacity from the Middle East to Central and Eastern Europe, CEO Jozsef Varadi told Penzcentrum in an interview published on Wednesday.
The carrier, which has exited the Abu Dhabi market, will expand operations at a second airport in Bucharest and Warsaw and open a new base in Bratislava. The aim is to lift its regional market share from roughly 25% to above 30%.
Varadi described the summer of 2025 as “incomparably better” than last year, noting almost no cancellations and stronger punctuality. Spare aircraft, crew and parts were added to reinforce operations.
Wizz Air resumed flights to Israel in August, citing strong demand and acceptable safety, but Varadi ruled out any return to Ukraine until a ceasefire or the end of the war.
The company’s passenger volumes are still expanding by 10-12% a year, though growth targets have been tempered by the grounding of Pratt & Whitney engines, a constraint likely to weigh on operations for another one to two years. (penzcentrum.hu; portfolio.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Heads roll at SAP Hungary amid alleged sex scandal
CEO Szabolcs Pinter of SAP Hungary has stepped down with immediate effect, the software company confirmed to Telex.
Index reports that not only Pinter but the entire senior management of the Hungarian unit of the German-owned firm have also been dismissed in a case that involves prostitutes at a SAP event
The dismissals follow an internal investigation launched across the group after a sexual-abuse case surfaced in the US last year, which led to the dismissal of two senior executives.
No abuse was reported in Hungary. However, internal correspondence revealed troubling references to a company event, prompting the leadership change, Telex writes.
SAP declined to comment on “rumours and speculation regarding personnel or event decisions”.
Pinter joined SAP in 2007 and became chief executive of the Hungarian subsidiary in 2019.
Allegedly prostitutes and drug use may have featured at one of the firm’s conferences, Index adds. (telex.hu; index.hu; forbes.hu; portfolio.hu; economx.hu; mfor.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Erste pulls Budapest Pride imagery from advertisement
Austria’s Erste Group has removed a segment from its latest AI generated commercial that placed Budapest Pride alongside historic milestones such as the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The video dramatizes defining European moments, from Joan of Arc’s battles to the Prague Spring of 1968 and Marie Curie’s scientific discoveries.
“Understanding and respecting Erste Bank Hungary’s request, we are replacing those segments that do not mean the same thing to all Hungarians and that could be better represented by other historical events in Hungary”, a company spokesperson told Telex.
The original advertisement still remains available in “non-public” form on the bank’s website. (telex.hu; 24.hu; nepszava.hu; index.hu; 444.hu; hirado.hu)
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28th August, 2025
Property sale boosts Raba profits
Raba’s second-quarter profit surged, buoyed by a one-off gain from real estate sales, though modest signs of stabilisation in its core operations are emerging, Portfolio sums up.
After-tax profit, including the property sale, reached Ft 2.1 billion, up from a Ft 258 million loss in the same period last year.
Group sales were broadly stable at Ft 14.3 billion, down just 0.8% from the prior year.
Three of Raba’s four manufacturing subsidiaries posted higher turnover, but Raba Vehicle Parts, operating in the passenger car segment, saw sales decline 16.9%.
One-off proceeds from real estate totalled Ft 2.6 billion, lifting operating profit to Ft 2.7 billion.
Including this item, ebitda reached Ft 3.5 billion; without it the adjusted ebitda rose from Ft 183 million to Ft 824 million. (portfolio.hu; economx.hu)
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28th August, 2025
BKK to renew ageing ticket machine network
The Budapest Transport Centre yesterday announced a complete renewal of its public transport ticket vending machines after securing both municipal approval and funding.
The decade-old machines have suffered an increasing number of breakdowns, particularly in their weather-sensitive printing units, making the upgrade unavoidable.
The programme, due to start in 2025 and finish next year, will combine refurbishment of existing machines with the installation of new, more modern devices at the busiest hubs.
Prototypes are already in place at Deak ter and Oktogon. (novekedes.hu; hvg.hu; 24.hu; portfolio.hu; mfor.hu; magyargirlap.hu)
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