Orbán's Government Secretly Handed Out Almost 33 Billion Forints Before the Election

Before this spring's parliamentary elections, the government of Hungary's former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán secretly distributed grants worth almost 33 billion forints, according to the Hungarian portal 24.hu. The outlet reports that the decisions to allocate the funds were kept hidden — in breach of transparency rules that the Orbán administration itself had put in place.

The portal gained access to 55 documents personally signed by Orbán while he was still prime minister. The government office finally declassified them, releasing decisions dating back to the beginning of this year that do not touch on national security matters. Some of the documents, however, remain classified to this day.

Who Got the Money

Miklós Ligeti, legal director of Transparency International, notes that by concealing these decisions, the previous government violated the very transparency rules it had set for itself. According to him, it can now be said with certainty that Orbán's cabinet handed out state funds to companies, foundations, associations and cultural organisations.

One of the largest grants — 11.5 billion forints (roughly 750 million crowns) — went to Vajda-Papír Kft., a company based in the town of Dunaföldvár. Money was also spent on real estate purchases: the Hungarian Greek Catholic Metropolitan Church, for instance, received 308 million forints (about 20 million crowns) to buy a property intended to support Hungarian-speaking Greek Catholic believers in Slovakia.

A Deal in Brussels That Never Happened

The previous Hungarian government had also planned to buy a three-storey building in one of Brussels' most expensive districts for 7.2 billion forints (around 470 million crowns), intended for diplomatic and protocol purposes. The building, located next to Hungary's permanent representation to the EU, was reportedly meant to house an upscale Hungarian restaurant as well. According to hvg.hu, the deal ultimately fell through.

In April's parliamentary elections in Hungary, the Tisza party won a decisive victory, and Péter Magyar became the country's new prime minister. This marked the end of Viktor Orbán's sixteen years in power.

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Source: novinky.cz