Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s officially declared wealth is fairly modest: some savings and a jointly owned villa in Budapest.
However, voters in what Transparency International deems the EU’s most corrupt country believe otherwise — and they might make Orban pay in a general election this Sunday that could spell an end to his 16-year rule.
The wealth amassed by Orban’s inner circle is fueling the increasingly palpable frustration of a population grappling with sluggish growth, high inflation and worsening public services.
Photo: AFP
“The government’s communication machine worked well as long as our economic situation remained relatively good,” said Zoltan Ranschburg, a political analyst at the Republikon think tank.
However, it has not been good for years, he added.
“It’s our money, not theirs. But they are spending it as if they were the sole owners,” Gabor Szebenyi, an 81-year-old retired history teacher said at an opposition rally.
He denounced what he called “feudalism” that has taken root in the Central European country of nearly 10 million people.
Independent lawmaker Akos Hadhazy, one of Hungary’s leading anti-corruption crusaders, said graft has drained the equivalent of 2.84 billion euros (US$3.24 billion) from state coffers every year since 2016.
“These are not isolated cases — this is simply the way the system is functioning,” Hadhazy said.
While Orban claims to live modestly, several members of his family have grown spectacularly rich since his return to power in 2010.
His father, Gyozo Orban, who is 85, owns several building material companies, as well as the historic Hatvanpuszta estate he had rebuilt into a luxurious manor worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Protected by high walls, the sprawling domain close to the premier’s home village has two swimming pools and its own wildlife park, as well as extensive outbuildings, according to drone footage published by independent media.
“In reality, the father is merely Viktor Orban’s frontman,” Hadhazy said.
Orban’s son-in-law Istvan Tiborcz has become one of Hungary’s most influential entrepreneurs through public lighting contracts won by his former company Elios. The deals were partly financed by the EU — until the EU anti-fraud office OLAF found serious irregularities.
Tiborcz has since switched to real estate and tourism.
The prime minister’s childhood friend Lorinc Meszaros, a former plumber, has become Hungary’s wealthiest man worth US$4.8 billion according to Forbes magazine, with an empire of construction, energy, banking and media firms thriving on public contracts.
“On paper there is competition [for public contracts], but in fact the winner is always known in advance,” a construction contractor said on condition of anonymity at a site near Budapest.
Working in the sector for three decades, the man said public tenders are often decided in advance.
“Those at the bottom of the chain do the work and get paid last — sometimes months later,” he said, adding that he was ready to throw in the towel and sell his machinery.
“I’m so angry,” he said.
While those in power lead “luxurious lives” and travel by private jets, small businesses “are struggling to survive,” he said.
The anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International has labeled Hungary as the EU’s most corrupt country alongside Bulgaria in its Corruption Perceptions Index.
It highlighted systemic risks in public procurement and limited competition for the largest contracts, which make up 5 percent of Hungary’s GDP.
The government rejected the ranking and insists Hungarian procurement rules comply with EU standards.
However, the EU has frozen 19 billion euros in funds destined for Hungary over persistent concerns about corruption and respect for the rule of law.
Opposition leader Peter Magyar, Orban’s top rival in the upcoming vote, has pledged to recover the funds if elected and to investigate how the current leaders and their families have grown so rich.
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