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Student trainees pick up new skills at the Audi plant in Győr. Desperate for capable workers, more Hungarian companies favor dual education. While some say better general schooling is needed, practical education is clearly popular with firms and students. 18

SOCIALITE

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Top Hungarian pilot jumps from old plane

Trying to do a good job with a ‘bad bank’

Analysts positive as prices stay negative

World champion air racer Péter Besenyei says he has to switch from his locally made craft for Budapest’s Red Bull race in July. Apparently the Corvus Racer 540 just can’t handle the turns.

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The BBJ interviews Csaba Kandrács, CEO of the bank that was created by the state to absorb bad loans from the system. He says his role is to make the private banks healthier by being a market actor.

11

Prices continue to drop, as they have done for most of the last 12 months, but analysts say they expect a turnaround in the near future. For now, we can anticipate more rate cuts from the MNB. 3

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Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

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BUSINESS JOURNAL BUDAPEST B

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HUNGARY’S PRACTICAL BUSINESS BI-WEEKLY SINCE 1992 | WWW.BBJ.HU

Learning to earn

Student trainees pick up new skills at the Audi plant in Győr. Desperate for capable workers, more Hungarian companies favor dual education. While some say better general schooling is needed, practical education is clearly popular with firms and students. 18

BUSINESS

SOCIALITE

NEWS

Top Hungarian pilot jumps from old plane

Trying to do a good job with a ‘bad bank’

Analysts positive as prices stay negative

World champion air racer Péter Besenyei says he has to switch from his locally made craft for Budapest’s Red Bull race in July. Apparently the Corvus Racer 540 just can’t handle the turns.

39

The BBJ interviews Csaba Kandrács, CEO of the bank that was created by the state to absorb bad loans from the system. He says his role is to make the private banks healthier by being a market actor.

11

Prices continue to drop, as they have done for most of the last 12 months, but analysts say they expect a turnaround in the near future. For now, we can anticipate more rate cuts from the MNB. 3

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THE EDITOR SAYS

Leaders avoid losses, but may pay at polls When Quaestor investment house went bust, so did a lot of hard−working people. The government and Győr’s football team were unscathed, but many ordinary citizens were not. Although only an estimated 32,000 people lost out, it seems nearly everyone in Budapest knows someone who was touched by the scandal. The memory of this loss may not go away.

The Hungarian National Bank and the Investor Protection Fund (Beva) are working to cover the savings lost, and an April 7 proposal may see the amount of compensation raised, but as of this writing, most investors were only covered for €20,000 each.

Investors take risks, and they even have to be aware of the risk of fraud – which is apparently what caused the recent collapse of three brokerages. But what really stings about the Quaestor case is the way that officials apparently knew about the problem. It’s also kind of troubling to find out that the foreign ministry is playing the market with taxpayers’ funds.

Magyar Nemzeti Kereskedőház Zrt. (MNKH), a state company overseen by the foreign ministry, had signed an agreement with the brokerage arm of the Quaestor group in March 2013 and had assets amounting to HUF 3.9 billion at the troubled brokerage house. Apparently MNKH was also involved in a joint venture with Quaestor CEO Csaba Tarsoly, who is now in custody awaiting trial on fraud charges.

MNKH managed to pull all its assets out of Quaestor, reportedly on March 9, just hours before the brokerageʼs license was suspended, preventing others from withdrawing their deposits.

Given this timing, it’s hard to avoid the impression that the government was aware of the situation, and

that officials saved state investments instead of warning ordinary Hungarians who had invested in the firm. And yet, officials deny having obtained and acted upon illegal insider information.

Tarsoly has said he wrote to both Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to ask them to help prevent his firm’s insolvency.

When it became clear that the government had pulled out of Quaestor just before it went under, Orbán claimed that he had decided to get out because of the problems at Buda− Cash brokerage, which went under shortly before Quaestor.

As more questions arose, and even cabinet chief János Lázár could not spin the story, Orbán promised to explain everything on April 2. But he happened to be in Kazakhstan on April 2, and we’ve yet to receive the promised explanation.

Aside from asking what officials knew when, it is also worth asking why the foreign ministry, which is supposed to be operated out of the regular state budget, has extra money that it can use to play the market. This is a risky, and perhaps legally questionable, way to handle taxpayers’ money.

There seems to be an attitude in the government that officials have a lot of leeway as to how they use state funds.

This approach was demonstrated when the government declared that the Győr ETO football team, which was owned by Quaestor, would be spared liquidation because it is of “national importance”.

The government and the football team were protected, but a lot of hard−working people – middle−income voting people – suffered a big loss. If the government cannot show that it acted appropriately in the matter, it may find that its losses were only delayed, until election day.

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NEWS

Latest broker in trouble is a pawnbroker

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NEWS

Quaestor questions nag at government

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macroscope

Analysts calm as prices drop

Speaking X of figures

Despite a negative price path that has dominated for most of the previous year, analysts say there is no cause for serious concern about a deflationary trend.

The Budapest Business Journal presents some of the most important macro data of the past fortnight.

3%

CHRISTIAN KESZTHELYI

Long-term optimism But analysts are optimistic about the long−term outlook for CPI. “Looking ahead, inflation is expected to turn positive in the second half of the year due to the base effect, and the administered energy price cut in 2014 and the massive slide of fuel prices are not going to be repeated; it will, however, fall short of the 3% inflation target,” Zoltán Török, head of research at Raiffeisen Bank Hungary

Growth in Hungary’s GDP predicted

Photo: MTI

Although Hungary’s Consumer Price Index has been negative for most of the last 12 months, analysts polled by the Budapest Business Journal say the decline is slowing, and they expect CPI to return to a positive range in the long− term, as deflationary pressure eases. For now, they say, the latest price figures provide a reason for the central bank to keep on cutting its base rate.

According to the Central Statics Office (KSH), Hungary’s CPI in March came to −0.6% in year−on−year terms, slowing from February’s y.o.y. −1%. This is in line with the predictions of emerging market analysts based in London, who estimated consumer prices would have fallen 0.5− 1.1%. The estimates, unusually wide in range, depended on how much weight the analysts attribute to the disinflationary impact of the stronger forint or to the inflationary pressure of base effects.

According to CIB Bank analyst Mariann Trippon, although the “inflationary measures of March reveal an easing in deflationary pressure [...] still the economy is characterized by a powerful disinflationary environment.” Trippon added that “the annual value of core inflation, which was cleared from volatile components, stayed at 1%, and short base indices also reveal low inflation”.

March’s CPI revealed deflationary pressures in nearly all major products, however “the pace of decline was lower than expected by analysts”, Monika Kiss, senior analyst at Equilor Investments Ltd. told the BBJ. “Generally speaking, deflation causes an increase in the real value of money and other monetary items, but periods of deflation through a complex process might lead to economic stagnation,” Kiss added.

MACRO

by London−based emerging markets economists working for

The Hungarian Foreign Ministry hosts a gathering of foreign ministers from around the region for a discussion of mutual concerns, including energy. Constant efforts by the government to keep fuel prices down are seen to be putting a damper on the CPI.

“CPI may remain in the negative range during the summer and return to positive territory as of October-November.” said. Török’s forecast is in line with the prediction by Kiss, who believes that “CPI may remain in the negative range during the summer and return to positive territory as of October−November.”

Although Trippon says inflation could stay under 0% for the following few months, she predicts a gradually improving CPI. “We do not expect deflation to be long−lasting: The run− out of government mandated household utility price reductions and the expected improving internal demand is pointing towards higher quality price standards,” she added. “However, the next couple of years would be characterized by a powerful disinflationary environment, not only in Hungary but also globally.

According to our predictions, inflation in Hungary will reach the MNB [National Bank of Hungary] target of 3% in the second half of 2016.” Trippon speculated.

Kiss added “the Monetary Council expects inflation to be significantly below the 3% target over the short−term.”

Further rate cuts and easing ahead MNB’s deputy governor Ádám Balog last week said that monetary easing would take place in several steps, chiefly determined by the inflationary outlook, and he added that the base rate could

bottom out below 1.5% (i.e. lower than that of Poland).

The analysts queried by the BBJ all expect the central bank to continue the easing cycle that it re−launched on March 24. Török said that Raiffeisen Research forecast was for key interest rate to reach its lowest point at 1.5% in June.

“There is ground for further easing, but the communicational ‘offense’ can be understood as a verbal intervention against the weakening forint,” Trippon said, adding “it has been clear that MNB does not only tolerate but, within certain limits, motivates the weakening of the forint, which is both good for reaching export competitiveness and helps reach the inflationary target, therefore despite the restarted easing cycle the currently strong forint under 300 to the euro is unfavorable for decision makers.”

Kiss believes “Risks pointing in the direction of looser monetary policy have increased; and in accordance with that the Monetary Council lowered the key interest rate to 1.95% on March 24.” She predicts that “the long−lasting inflation below target, the strengthening of the forint and the supportive external market environment altogether give enough reason for the [rate setting] Monetary Council to continue its easing cycle.”

However, “the end of the new cycle is chiefly dependent on market processes”, according to Trippon. She added: “Of external factors, geopolitical processes and the [U.S.] Federal Reserve’s monetary policy could risk a ‘higher low point’, but if global risk appetite does not weaken significantly and, parallel to this, the forint is stuck at a strong level, the following months could bring rate cuts bigger than 15 basis points, and it is also possible that the easing cycle will end below the target rate of 1.5%.”

ICBC Standard Bank.

51% Increase in number of homes sold in Hungary, in year−on−year terms, in March, according to local real estate broker Duna House. Some 12,263 houses were said to be sold in March.

€709 mln Hungary’s trade surplus in January,

increased from the €691 mln of the first reading released March 11, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) revealed in a second reading of data.

68% Number of Hungarian companies planning new hires this year, management consultancy Hay Group reported April 2 after carrying out a survey.

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04 News

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

NEWS IN BRIEF

The number of optimists fell to 13% in only one year and the number of pessimists has risen to 57%, while the number of those with neutral feelings about the country’s outlook fell from 33% last year to 30% this year. According to the report, MSZP and Jobbik voters are the most pessimistic at 82% and 72% respectively, while only 20% of Fidesz voters are pessimistic and 36% are optimistic, more than all other voters combined. Of the large group of undecided voters surveyed, 60% were pessimistic and only 4% were optimistic.

KSH: Hungary’s retail sales up 6.2% in February M4 probe to wind up at end of April The Hungarian government’s review of the construction of a section of the M4 motorway is expected to be completed by the end of April, deputy state secretary for communications of development policy Nándor Csepreghy said on April 7. The European Commission rejected Hungary’s application for funding for the construction of the M4 highway on suspicion of cartel activity, as it found the construction cost of HUF 4 billion per km too high, Hungarian online daily index.hu reported on March 26.

Cabinet Chief János Lázár ordered the internal review on March 26, and construction on the project was halted, according to reports.

Csepreghy said earlier that the government does not agree with the ECʼs suspicion and

“final judgment will not take place” unless suspicion is substantiated. The European AntiFraud Office, Olaf, is investigating a total of 50 Hungarian investment projects with a total value of nearly HUF 500 bln, Csepreghy said.

Survey: Only Fidesz voters remain optimistic More than half of Hungarians are pessimistic about the outlook for the country, a survey published April 7 by research institute TÁRKI revealed, based on data compiled in January of this year. This sentiment represents a sharp decline from January 2014 when 31% of survey respondents said they were optimistic about the future and only 36% said they were pessimistic.

Retail sales in Hungary climbed by a year-onyear 6.2% in February, but the increase slowed from an 8.2% rise in the previous month, according to preliminary data released by the Central Statistics Office (KSH) on April 8. Adjusted for calendar effects, the volume of sales rose by 3.3% in food, drinks and tobacco stores, by 7.9% in non-food retail trade and by 11% in automotive fuel retailing, KSH said. In January-February, the volume of sales – also according to calendar adjusted data – was 7.4% higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year, KSH added. TakarékBank analyst Gergely Suppan told Hungarian news agency MTI that the settlement of compensation from lenders under borrowers’ relief legislation would boost householdsʼ disposable income

Report: HUF 4 bln may be lost in pawnbroker misconduct

and support the increase in retail sales. Head of the Hungarian Trade Association (OKSZ), György Vámos, attributed much of the increase in retail sales to the mandatory use of tills that are electronically connected to the tax office, MTI said.

Jobbik MP: No one trusts Orbán in the East Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s “Eastern Opening” policy raises questions of credibility, given that the prime minister’s opinion on eastern countries was the opposite of what it is now, prior to his winning the 2010 elections, radical far-right Jobbik MP Márton Gyöngyösi told Hungarian online daily 444. hu on March 30. “I have heard how Orbán is seen in the East, where everything is based on long-term trust,” the MP said, adding that “this [Orbán’s] kind of mentality is not preferred there”. According to the Jobbik MP, in the East Orbán is regarded as a politician who is “not credible”. He implied that the only reason Eastern countries cooperate with Hungary is based on “mutual interest”, which he termed an “unstable foundation for foreign policy”.

Government publishes draft of energy efficiency legislation The Hungarian government published a draft of energy efficiency legislation on its website on April 1, as part of its effort to transpose European Union directives into national law, according to the attached justification. The European Commission said last week it was referring Hungary to the European Court because it believed the country was failing to transpose its energy efficiency directive. The EC proposed Hungary pay a daily penalty of €15,444 until the transposition is completed.

DK would restrict Sunday hunting In a measure mocking the recently introduced Sunday closures law, which restricts retailers from opening on Sundays, opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) is planning to hand in a bill proposal to restrict hunting on Sundays, Hungarian online daily hvg.hu said on March 29. DK claims that, just as people need a day of rest, animals also need such a day. “Animals would like to spend their Sundays with their families, children and cubs,” DK spokesperson Zsolt Gréczy said, emphasizing what he called the “absurdity of the Sunday closures law”.

The spokesperson further added that the party is aware that their proposal touches upon the “whimsical” hobbies of cabinet chief János Lázár and Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, both keen hunters.

EC: Paks talks must continue

The owner of Lombard Kézizálog Zrt., a pawnbroker on Lónyay utca in Budapest, admitted to misconduct in the firm’s lending and refinancing practices on April 8, according to press reports. Hungarian police announced that the estimated loss from inappropriate activity at the business exceeds HUF 4 Bln. In January, the Hungarian National Bank ordered an oversight supervisor to monitor the company’s lending and refinancing practices. According to the Lombard Kézizálog website, CEO Péter Bíró owns 99.5% of the shares of the company, which was founded in 1990 and currently has 30 employees. On April 8, visitors to the company’s English website were being redirected to an Asian language site, while the Hungarian website was still available.

Hungary was in talks with the European Union’s Euratom Supply Agency about plans to provide fuel to the Paks nuclear power plant after its pending upgrade, an EC spokesperson said March 26, but she would not confirm cabinet chief János Lázárʼs assertion that an agreement was reached. “The Commission understands that the Hungarian authorities and the Euratom Supply Agency have resumed talks on the nuclear fuel supply contract to ensure its compatibility with European rules,” AnnaKaisa Itkonen, a Commission spokeswoman, was quoted as saying by Reuters. Hungary has reached a deal with Russian firm Rosatom for upgrading the nuclear plant at Paks, which supplies most of the country’s electricity, but the EU’s regulator Euratom had opposed the part of the deal pertaining to the supplying of fuel for the site, because it would have made Russia the sole fuel supplier for the plant. The EC would like a provision for many suppliers.

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News 05

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

NAV tightens regulations over online gambling

Quaestor affair said to hurt Fideszʼ image

Hungary’s National Tax and Customs Authority (NAV) made 82 resolutions against organizers of online gambling, which will result in the media authority (NMHH) blocking such websites, NAV said according to Hungarian economic daily Világgazdaság. In response to a query by Hungarian news agency MTI, NAV said that in March alone the office made 40 decisions to block such websites, however only 17 have actually been blocked.

Official: Hungarian dairy sector ready for new EU system The Hungarian dairy sector is prepared to operate in the new system after the European Union phased out milk quotas on April 1, moreover it is expected to gain from the changes, agrarian ministry state secretary György Czerván told Hungarian news agency MTI on March 31. Phasing out milk quotas will leave no cap to milk production in the EU, the secretary noted adding that most countries produced below their quota. Hungary too, used up only 75-80% of its quota, he added. According to Czerván, the ministry was able to raise the direct annual support, both domestic and EU, for the sector to approximately HUF 50 billion from HUF 26 bln. The secretary added that another HUF 42 bln would be established as marketing fund based on consultations with the dairy product council. It is necessary to develop the processing industry, the state secretary said, adding that the resources opening up in the new budget period make about HUF 300 bln available for food industry developments.

Government to introduce electronic IDs The Hungarian government is planning to replace current identity cards with electronic ID cards that would enable carriers to do fingerprint identification and use electronic signatures, Hungarian economic daily Napi Gazdaság reported on April 1. The government justified the need for a new system as the “e-card” they are proposing would make everyday life easier for Hungarians. One single card could store all the data a Hungarian would need to manage any official matters, even matters regarding national health care or taxation. As a result, the proposed e-card could combine many official ID documents into one.

Report: EC concerns could be cleared with minor changes According to farm ministry state secretary István Nagy, Hungary could resolve the European Commission’s concerns regarding its new land law through “minor technical changes”, Hungarian economic daily Napi Gazdaság reported April 3. The Commission said in late March that it had launched an infringement procedure against Hungary to investigate the country’s investor restrictions on farmland. The Commission has reportedly asked Hungary to submit observations on the law regulating farmland purchases in a “letter of formal notice”, the first stage of the infringement process. The EC said provisions in the law “may be considered to restrict the free movement of capital and freedom of establishment”, according to EU law. It noted that any restrictions on these basic freedoms must “be justified and comply with the principles of non-discrimination and proportionality”. It added: “While member states are permitted to set their own rules to promote rural development, to keep land in agricultural use and avoid speculative pressure on land prices, this must be done within the limits of EU law.”

Sasa Stevanovic, sport director of the Győri ETO football club, which was owned by Quaestor, discusses his team’s fate at a March 31 press conference. Recently declared to be of ‘national importance’, the club may be bailed out.

Political analysts say the government’s lack of transparency around the collapse of the brokerage is hurting both its popularity and its credibility.

CHRISTIAN KESZTHELYI

The government’s handling of the recent scandal surrounding the now bankrupt Quaestor investment house, as well as questions about personal and institutional relations between the state and the brokerage, could hurt the overall popularity of the ruling party, paving the way for the ever strengthening far− right Jobbik, according to political analysts interviewed by the Budapest Business Journal.

“Although the recent brokerage cases do not pose a threat to the Hungarian economy and financial system, trust towards brokerages and similar savings forms have declined, which affects the players of the market negatively; at the same time, it might pose a significant political risk for the government,” said Attila Juhász political analyst at Political Capital.

News reports suggest that the Hungarian National Trading House Company (MNKH), which is supervised

by Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, withdrew roughly HUF 3.9 billion that it kept in government bonds at the Quaestor brokerage on March 9, the same day its license was suspended, preventing others from withdrawing their deposits.

The fact that Quaestor CEO Csaba Tarsoly and Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó reportedly have a “personal relationship” further worsens the whole image according to Juhász.

“Although the foreign ministry said that it had no insider information on what was going to happen, sections of the opposition and the press presumes that the government did have information,

which assumption is supported by the fact that government politicians, including Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, have made contradictory announcements regarding the issue,” the political analyst said. “The government is trying to deny having received information, but this will be difficult for them due to the overlapping institutional and personal relationships,” Juhász added.

Following news reports speculating that MNKH withdrew money based on “insider information”, PM Orbán said that he had instructed “all the government institutions” to withdraw “any money from any brokerages”, based on seeing how people had been hurt by the earlier crash of the Buda−Cash brokerage, using his “common sense.”

Seeing a lack of transparency According to Attila Tibor Nagy, political analyst of the Méltányosság Center for Fair Political Analysis, the problem with much of the government’s communication is that it has been contradictory, with no clear timeline emerging of who knew what and when. As a result, some are left with the impression that the PM appears to have been aware of the approaching bankruptcy and urged institutions to save government money but “refused to inform the public about it, so he let little investors get in trouble”.

Juhász agrees about the lack of transparency, noting “government politicians, including the Prime Minister, have made contradictory announcements regarding the issue.”

Nagy believes it is hard to say what the truth is, but adds that the situation is made worse by the lack of transparency in such matters. “It is impossible to see what could have happened behind closed doors when the Prime Minister, ministers, secretaries and/or business people met,” Nagy says. “It is a substantial problem that the public knows little about the important things.”

Financial watchdog didn’t bark The financial market watchdog, which is regulated by the National Bank

of Hungary (MNB), could be held responsible, according to Juhász, as well as the prosecutor’s office in Budapest, for waiting so long to take action after the scandal hit ground. Nagy furthermore believes “the government – and the National Bank of Hungary – might have prosecuted tougher control on the financial sector, including Quaestor”.

The ruling Fidesz party did pass amendments to legislation that broadens the scope of liability assigned to brokerages on March 31. The law on “securing assets for the compensation of victims of brokerage scandals”, is intended to prevent “the consolidation of companies affected by the brokerage scandal, cheating brokers, and company heads, owners, supervisory board members and certain auditors of the companies” from concealing their assets, according to justification attached to the bill. But Juhász warned it “is not offering a solution for those who were hurt in the scandal, as on the one hand earlier regulations provided the rights that the new bill stipulates and on the other hand it afflicts fair players of the market, which is harmful.”

OTP chairman−CEO Sándor Csányi certainly seems to think so. He said on April 1 that he believes it would be “unjustified” to force financial market players in Hungary to compensate investors for unsanctioned bonds issued

by Quaestor.

According to Nagy, as approximately 32,000 people were hurt in the Quaestor scandal “the number of people itself is not expected to significantly hurt Fidesz,” however the impression of a blurry relationship between the government and Quaestor “especially between Péter Szijjártó and Csaba Tarsoly” paints an unfavorable picture of Fidesz. Nevertheless, Juhász claimed that what could hurt more is that “the party is not taking any responsibility for the happenings, while it is unable to clear its own name from the accusations”. Juhász further added “The winner [‥.] could be Jobbik, which keeps strengthening and campaigns in order to exploit the possibilities offered by the scandal.”

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2Business

Strategic deal with Ibiden Hungary László Szabó, right, a state secretary representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, signs a strategic agreement with Yasuhiro Asano, president of Ibiden Hungary Kft., on April 7. Ibiden is a Japanese-owned manufacturer of diesel particulate filters, with its Hungarian headquarters in Dunavarsány. The firm’s strategic agreement with the government provides the foundation for Ibiden’s expansion plans in Hungary, the ministry said in a statement. The main areas of cooperation between Ibiden and the government are development of production, of R&D and of a vocational training partnership, according to the ministry’s statement.

COMPANY NEWS Le Belier to invest HUF 8 bln in Hungary French automotive industry supplier Le Belier announced April 3 it would invest HUF 8 billion in the city of Ajka, western Hungary, with Hungarian state and EU support of HUF 507 million being allotted for the first phase, Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on April 3. He added that negotiations between the government and the firm are already under way regarding the second phase of the investment. The project, which is based on orders from one of the largest German car manufacturers, is expected to

create 100 jobs. Franceʼs Le Belier group signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Hungarian government in January of this year, the group’s regional CFO Tibor Skobrak noted. Le Belier makes molded aluminum safety components for cars.

Magyar Telekom to expand 4G network Magyar Telekom, the Hungarian unit of German telecom giant Deutsche Telecom, will connect approximately 440,000 households to its 4G network by installing 2,500 km of optical cable throughout the country, Hungarian online portal investor.

hu reported on April 2. The company expects to raise 4G coverage to 2.2 million households from the current 1.8 million.

The company noted that the gap in quality of internet service between the capital and the rest of the country would become smaller with the investment. “Our aim is to bring broadband internet connections to every Hungarian household,” Magyar Telekom CEO Christopher Mattheisen said. The CEO added that regarding mobile networks, the company will continue expanding 4G coverage, which is currently at 80%.

Utair suspends Moscow-Héviz flight Russian airline Utair has suspended scheduled flights between Moscow and Hungary’s Hévíz-Balaton Airport, however charters are expected to start arriving from Russia in the second half of the year, the mayor of the nearby spa town of Hévíz told Hungarian news agency MTI on April 1.

Utairʼs first scheduled flight of the season was to have landed on Sunday, said Gábor Papp. The weak ruble and the state of the

Russian economy had caused doubts about the launch of the flights, he added. Hévíz, home to one of the largest thermal lakes in the world, is popular with Russian visitors to Hungary.

Danubius Hotels may not pay dividend The board of Danubius Hotels will propose paying no dividend on last year’s earnings at a shareholders meeting scheduled for April 23, Hungarian news agency MTI reported, citing the AGM agenda. “The board finds it best to continue retaining its cash within the company and using it for the improvement of the quality of its network,” according to the agenda published on the website of the Budapest Stock Exchange late on April 2.

Danubius Hotels had net profit of HUF 3.73 billion last year, according to Hungarian Accounting Standards, MTI noted.

FHB board proposes no dividend The board of FHB Mortgage Bank will propose to shareholders at an AGM on

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2 Business

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

April 28 that no dividend be paid against last year’s performance, according to the meeting agenda, Hungarian news agency MTI reported on April 7. The bank’s earnings statement cleared by the board shows an unconsolidated loss of HUF 19.4 billion.

Invitel extends InnoMax deadline Hungarian tele- and info-communications company Invitel is extending the deadline for its CSR program InnoMax grant scheme to April 26 following the request of a number of NGOs and educational institutions, the company announced on March 31. “Invitel is continuously seeking opportunities to offer efficient support for its clients,” Invitel’s Operative Chief Imre Mártha said earlier in connection with the InnoMax grants.

“Continuous improvement and the capacity for renewal are part of Invitel’s thinking, and the same is true for InnoMax,” the CEO had earlier noted. The program has been extended for this year after it saw a record number of 114 applicants in 2014.

ING Biztosító renamed NN Biztosító ING Group’s Hungarian insurance unit ING Biztosító changed its name to NN Biztosító as April 1, the company told Hungarian news agency MTI. The name change is part of a move toward a global change as NN Group will become an independent and standalone company separate from ING Group. MTI noted that NN Biztosító entered the Hungarian market under the name Nationale-Nederlanden in 1991.

Wizz Air looks to open 21st base Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air is planning to open a new base in Lublin, which will be its sixth such base in Poland, operating one Airbus A320 aircraft, in addition to launching five new routes, the company announced on April 1 in a press release. By adding the new plane to Lublin, routes available from the city will increase to six, while the annual seat-capacity is expected to jump to 115%. With the addition of the new routes, Wizz Air now operates a total of 113 routes from seven Polish airports to 20 countries.

Knorr-Bremse winds up HUF 700 mln development project Knorr-Bremse Fékrendszerek, the Hungarian unit of German braking systems manufacturer Knorr-Bremse, on April 1 wound up an electronic braking system development for approximately HUF 700 million in a consortium with the Budapest University of Technology, the company told Hungarian news agency MTI. The project, which began in 2012, was supported with a HUF 485 mln European Union grant.

The system will chiefly be used in heavy commercial vehicles. According to the company, the main added value of the newly developed system is the new model-based axle load calculation and control procedure, which is an EU requirement for regulations governing the safety of commercial vehicles.

The company has a total headcount of approximately 2,000 in its Hungarian units in Budapest and Kecskemét, central

Hungary. The company had a revenue of HUF 39.8 billion in 2013.

Eston International expands portfolio by 57,000 sqm Eston International’s portfolio has expanded by 57,000 sqm as a result of exclusively contracting with CPI Property Group’s three office buildings: Gateway Irodaház, Balance Irodaház and BOP, Eston said on March 31 in a press release. “We are happy that we can represent CPI Property Group’s office buildings as a joint-exclusive agency, Eston CEO Adorján Salamon said.

“As the real estate of CPI Property Group has a good price-value ratio we are already witnessing interest in the buildings,” the CEO added. “We have been in a tight professional relationship with Eston International,” CPI Hungary CEO Adrienn Lovro said. “The company’s activities and successes have served as reference for our cooperation,” she added.

at Kecskemét, is also rising in China and America, he said. The factory has decided to make more cars through improvements in efficiency, as well as the introduction of a third shift in September. Mercedes-Benz launched production of B-Class models at the plant in Hungary in March of 2012. It started making CLA models in January 2013 and launched CLA Shooting Brake production in January this year. Geiger said the plant plans to settle local suppliers in the vicinity of the plant, to replace some of the supplies now coming from Germany or other countries.

Wabererʼs sets up Italian subsidiary Hungary-based haulage company Wabererʼs International has established a subsidiary in Milan, Italy, the company informed Hungarian news agency MTI on March 26.

The company noted that deliveries to and from Italy account for approximately onefifth of its annual turnover of €500 million.

The company has subsidiaries in France, Poland, Germany, Romania and Slovakia.

Exports to China, U.S. to boost output of Kecskemét Mercedes plant further

Triumph to sell Hungarian plant

The Mercedes-Benz plant at Kecskemét, central Hungary, will raise its output further this year, mainly thanks to increasing exports to China and the United States, plant manager Thomas Geiger said in an interview with Hungarian news agency MTI on March 27.

The plant turned out 150,000 cars last year, he said. Demand for the cars is on the rise, and interest in the CLA and the Shooting Brake model, manufactured exclusively

Multinational, family-owned underwear Triumph and lingerie manufacturer International is planning on selling its plant in Dunaújváros, central Hungary, the company told Hungarian news agency MTI. The plant’s capacity would be reduced by August, eliminating 170 of the 412 positions, the company said, adding that it would also shut down its plant in Onerwart, Austria, near the Hungarian border, by the end of 2015.

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08 2Business

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

Take your kidʼs temperature with an app Pre-order campaign to give much-needed initial boost

STEMP, a Californian startup that is a Hungarian−American cooperation, offers continuous monitoring of body temperature in the form of a smart patch with a vast range of potential uses.

LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH

In the world of startups, 20−somethings are considered veterans, and in a best− case scenario, by that age their pockets are stuffed with VC money. That makes it somewhat unconventional to come across a startup run by family men in their 40s. Yet, it took the very fact of raising children to get operation STEMP started.

Since all three founders are practicing fathers, they were all too familiar with

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Images of the STEMP app. handling kids showing symptoms of a cold, and the trouble that goes with it.

“We wished there were a device that constantly measures body temperature, sparing us and our kids from having to wake up in the middle of the night. From a parent’s perspective, the potential was obvious right away,” CFO Barnabás

Gerő tells the Budapest Business Journal. That’s how the concept of a wearable thermometer was conceived in California, as a result of Hungarian− American coproduction.

Experts on board To give substance to the project, Gerő, who had returned to Budapest after studying in the United States and finally moved to America in 2013, joined forces with two other dads, fellow Hungarian Zsolt Krajcsik and American David Whelan.

Each of the founders brought their own skill set: Krajcsik came with an impressive Hollywood track record in visual effects; Whelan with a decade’s worth of marketing experience; Gerő is a fundraising expert. “It took half a year until it got going for real. In order to make it happen, a strong team of tech specialists with various backgrounds had to be put together,” Gerő recalls.

The product needed a major R&D effort: both hardware and software had to be developed. A sensor taking accurate body temperature at all times and rechargeable via USB; an adhesive patch with which the sensor is applied to the body firmly enough that it stays on even while taking a shower or doing sports; and a mobile app that collects data by communicating with the sensor.

“We have combined cutting edge, best−in−class technologies with custom firmware and an elegant smartphone app to create a product that parents and healthcare professionals will love. This is the thermometer reinvented for the 21st century,” Krajcsik notes.

“Cheap thermometers sell for around $5−10, ultra−sophisticated ones cost up to 150 bucks. Our aim is to provide an affordable healthcare device that can monitor body temperature quickly, accurately, and continuously,” Gerő adds.

The target retail price is set at $25, but early adopters will have to live with a price tag of around $50. Help to push the price down should come from a pre− order campaign launched on Indiegogo.

Instead of going for classic crowdfunding, the strategy was to get the first devices out there in order to generate word−of− mouth hype early on.

“Apart from our current pre−order campaign, ongoing sales will start online and also through bricks−and−mortar retail channels, like Target and Tesco.

We were considering selling STEMP to healthcare institutions first, but we decided that it would work better to give priority to consumers to let them fall in love with it,” Gerő says.

First reactions certainly give reasons to cheer. Within three weeks the $14,000 sales mark was passed in the pre−order campaign. And the potential markets are vast. In the United States alone there are 37 million households with children.

“Another potential 60−million−strong target group is American women using ovulation tests, of whom six million have difficulties conceiving. Keeping an accurate track of temperature is critical for them,” Gerő points out.

The next leap forward Then there are people in post−operative care or with chronic conditions. “We have been approached by parents with cancer− affected children, to provide them with a device, and we were glad to help; we know that immediate detection of any sign for fever may be lifesaving in such cases.” STEMP has even been recognized as an authentic tool to alert elevated temperatures when screening for Ebola.

Measured data is offered for home use only at this stage. The next leap would be to make it available for health care professionals who could then give feedback to users by interpreting the numbers. “One idea may be to sell a comprehensive monitoring service package in the future. That, however, will require addressing issues such as data privacy and processing. It’s a later stage of development, but that is clearly the right track,” Gerő adds. It doesn’t take a wild imagination to conclude that there should be demand for it.

As easy as 1-2-3 1. After charging the STEMP temperature sensor via a USB, insert it into a disposable STEMP adhesive patch 2. Apply STEMP to the body 3. Get immediate temperature data on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch (Android versions are in development)

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2 Business

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

09

JLL: Industrial property booming as market recovers BBJ STAFF

Vision Towers on the corner of Váci út and Dózsa György út.

Erste division buys Vision Towers from Futureal The Hungarian property fund has completed the purchase of the entire complex, which has an excellent environmental rating and few vacancies.

DAVID LAWRENCE

Kerület”) program. “The support of the 13th district authority has contributed greatly to the successful implementation of the Vision Towers project,” commented Gábor Futó, founder and co−owner of Futureal. The company has extended its activities to Poland and Romania and is now an established CEE developer, having completed €700 million worth of developments in 350,000 sqm of space.

Some €560 mln of properties has been sold since 2007, and there is €1 billion or 700,000 sqm of space in the pipeline.

Erste Asset Management has completed the purchase of the second phase of Erste focuses on class ‘A’ offices the 20,000 sqm Vision Towers from Futureal, and the Hungarian fund now According to Balázs Pázmány, Chairman owns the whole of the complex, having of the Board of Erste Asset Management, earlier acquired the northern wing of the the fund has in excess of HUF 240 bln center. The complex, designed by the of real estate assets. Having purchased 3H Architects studios, consists of three several retail developments, the focus of “angled fan shapes”, each with different the fund is now on class “A” office assets. heights and slightly different facades. “We were interested in Vision Towers The center has BREEAM because it is very good “Very Good” and quality class “A” office “Excellent” sustainability product that has a direct “The support of accreditation and was metro connection and it constructed on the site is close to fully let and the 13th district of the former Hotel multi−tenanted.

There authority has Volga, directly opposite have been few quality the Dózsa György metro centers developed contributed greatly office station on the corner since 2008, and there is of Váci út and Dózsa now a huge gap between to the successful György út. and new product, implementation of old A 12,000 sqm pre−lease therefore these provide was agreed with KPMG good returns,” said the Vision Towers Pázmány. and the complex is now Prime office yields for close to fully let: tenants project.” include the pharmaceutical Budapest stand at 7−7.25%, company Teva Hungary providing a 150 basis and Provident Financial. Futureal have the point premium on, for example, Poland, policy of going ahead with a development and this type of property would probably only once a substantial pre−lease has been have been snapped up by international concluded. This is a cautious development institutional investors had it been in strategy that reflects the high vacancy Poland or Czech Republic. However, there rates and the difficult economic conditions are signs that funds are reconsidering the in Hungary over the past few years. The Hungarian market and concrete deals will office delivery and development pipeline be concluded this year.

Futureal is also planning the 70,000 in Budapest is very low and developers are, in general, undertaking phased sqm, €170 mln Budapest One business development strategies only. park adjacent to the Kelenföld Railway According to József Tóth, mayor of Station and the terminus of the Metro 4 the 13th district, as much as 200,000 line. At least 50% of the development phase sqm of commercial business space needs to be pre−leased before construction was developed in the district between can start according to the company’s 2010 and 2014, and this is expected to development strategy. “We require at least continue with the “Momentum in the a 10,000−15,000 sqm pre−lease before 13th district” (“Lenduletben a X111. going ahead,” Futó confirmed.

The Budapest industrial market registered the highest annual net take−up in its history in 2014, while the office market continued its recovery, professional services and investment management firm JLL reported April 2 in its Q4 2014 Budapest City Report.

The annual gross occupier rate in the industrial sector reached a record 386,625 sqm last year – a 55% progression on 2013 – while net take−up totaled 221,775 sqm and represents 36% year−on−year growth, JLL said.

According to the report, the active occupier market shows that the recovery of the industrial market has finally gained momentum. JLL noted that the total transaction volume of logistics and industrial premises amounted to some €72 million in 2014. The largest industrial transaction of the period was an owner− occupier deal by Audi, who bought its built−to−suit 70,000 sqm warehouse/ production complex in Győr.

As for offices, the report saw occupancy, and investment, increasing. “Based on the latest transactional evidence, the prime ADVERTISEMENT

office yield stands at 7.30%. Prime retail is at 7.25% and prime logistics now stands at 9.25%,” the report says. “According to our opinion, 2015 will see increasing interest for Hungarian assets from international investors and local funds. We also expect the National Bank to continue its real estate investment program.”

The report speculated that pressure on rents would come by the end of the year. “The rapidly improving market environment is expected to be reflected in rental terms and conditions later in 2015,” according to Rita Tuza, head of research at JLL Budapest. “As the high quality vacant industrial units are becoming scarce, effective rents will eventually start rising in modern logistics parks.”

As for logistics deals, Benjamin Perez− Ellischewitz of capital markets at JLL Budapest said, “in 2015 we already saw a high profile acquisition by ProLogis, which bought M1 Business Park from CA Immo. This logistics park is the largest income producing asset to be transacted in recent years and JLL acted on behalf of the buyer. in the transaction. We expect further assets to be sold throughout the year considering the growing investor appetite for this asset class.”

10

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2 Business

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

PROMOTION

Pharma professionals converge on Budapest The fifth PHARM Connect Congress brought 400 participants involved in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in CEE to Budapest on February 25-26. To learn more about the event, we interviewed Dennis Lantos, the Managing Director of The Events Group (TEG), which organizes PHARM Connect.

At the PHARM Connect Congress are, from left, Dennis Lantos, Managing Director, TEG; Csaba Hertelendi, Department Head, SANOFI; Mátyás Aradi, Site Director, SANOFI; József Ferenczi, Local Division Manager Process Automation, ABB; Rajiv Varma, PACT Service Operations Manager, ABB

Q: What are the current and future trends in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry?

A: In my opinion and based on the feedback we received, the industry is going to face increasing challenges due to cost cutting in health systems by governments; this will put increasing pressure on manufacturing costs. In addition, the traditional pharmaceutical industry sees another threat in biosimilars (a type of biological product that is licensed by the drug authorities because they are highly similar to an already approved product), which was one of the hottest topics and was addressed by Dr. Erik Bogsch, head of Biotechnology R&D Division at Richter Gedeon in his keynote presentation.

Furthermore, challenges due to the growth of emerging markets are coming evermore into picture.

Q: What is your overall impression of PHARM Connect’s recent event?

A: PHARM Connect, which took place for the fifth time, was a fantastic event and a great success. More than 50% of this year’s solution providers were attending for the first time and have already signed up to guarantee their pole position for 2016. These include Tiszatextil Packaging, Dycem, Blulog, EXERGY Heat Transfer Solutions, CODEX, and many more. We got a lot of great feedback, for example Bill Frohlich the Head of Business Development at Exergy in the United States, who said: “I was surprised that how many different countries were represented and how deep the attendees went in terms of titles and occupations.

The meeting scheduler was very hectic, although I really liked, we barely had a

second to breathe, except when we ate lunch and that was about it, we were busy the entire time.”

We also entered into new markets and had several new solutionprovider segments present, like heat exchangers, contamination control zones, data-loggers, temperaturecontrolled transportation, and cold chain packaging.

Q: How many people attended the conference, and what countries were represented?

A: Besides our established markets, such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, and obviously Hungary, we received a tremendous response from the Balkan region.

Furthermore, we are attracting evermore participants from outside the CEE region, e.g. from France, Germany, Sweden and the USA, among others.

This is an amazing achievement, something I am really proud of.

To talk numbers, this year’s PHARM Connect brought again more than 400 participants from over 23 countries together who conducted over 2,000 pre-scheduled one-to-one business meetings with more than 30 solution providers represented.

Q: Please highlight the most exciting presentations and give a brief outline of the content.

A: Once again, the conference programme has been exceptionally well received. The topics were covered with state-of-the-art presentations by senior management representatives of big players such as Gedeon Richter, SANOFI, Baxter, Lonza Biotec, Hemofarm, Belupo,

GSK, Zentiva just to mention a few. One of the key topics was anti–counterfeiting, which was addressed during a panel discussion by prominent participants from SANOFI in France, Hungary, and Poland, as well as the Hungarian police and regulatory authorities.

Q: Are you planning to launch similar events?

A: After establishing the market-leading pharmaceutical and logistics events for the Central Eastern European region, TEG is already working on the launch of a Food & Beverage business summit, which will be the first of its kind in CEE. Q: Who won the newly launched CEE Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Excellence Award, and how is it contributing to development in the region?

A: We decided to hand out awards in two categories: One for innovative and generic pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturers, and one for a service provider with a customer project.

The winner in the manufacturer category was SANOFI, whose application was a process optimization project, in which its team went beyond its boundaries, took a holistic view and was brave enough to challenge the existing status quo.

This approach clearly yielded several benefits such as cost savings of 35%.

In the solution provider category, ABB was selected because it went beyond Richter Gedeon’s original customer requirements and provided solutions that helped to improve process

robustness, maintain education level of the employees and most of all reduce potential human error.

As jury member István Király, managing director at GSK Biologicals noted: “I think we are sometimes too shy, too modest, and do not really believe that what we create in Central Europe measures up with the rest of the world. [...] I hope this award will become as recognized as other manufacturing excellence awards.” Which I absolutely agree with and which was one key reason the award was brought to life.

Q: When will the next TEG event take place?

A: We have successfully renewed our agreement with the five-star Corinthia Hotel in Budapest for our upcoming events. The fifth TRANSLOG Connect, takes place November 25-26, and the sixth PHARM Connect will run again next year on February 24-25.

Q: Is there anything you would like to add?

A: I think the remarkable success of PHARM Connect and TRANSLOG over the years, at a time when ordinary mass exhibitions are experiencing a significant decline, clearly shows that these focused events have a future when the highest level of professionalism, the right people, the right know how, and excellent partnerships between the organizer, participants, associations and the media are all in place. We are looking forward to further support new investments in addition to economical growth throughout the growing region of Central Eastern Europe. Thank you for the interview, it was a pleasure.

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2 Business

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

11

A bad bank for a good cause Csaba Kandrács, CEO of the newly formed Hungarian ‘bad bank’ MARK Zrt., explains how his state institution will remove the burden of bad loans from the system, while helping to recoup some value from those loans.

ANDRÁS ZSÁMBOKI

The state−owned “bad bank”, aggregating all the non−performing project loans in the Hungarian banking system, was created with the enthusiastic support of central bank governor György Matolcsy.

On the face of it, the idea sounds almost deceptively good: By selling their bad debts to one state−owned bank, commercial banks would finally be freed from having to find ways to dispose of properties on which they had foreclosed.

Those banks could also avoid employing large “workout” departments to handle bad debts. But there are concerns that a single, state−run bad bank will not get full value for the loans it handles.

In this interview, Csaba Kandrács, CEO of the newly formed Hungarian bad bank MARK Zrt. (Hungarian Reorganization and Debt Management Office), seeks to allay these concerns as he explains how the bank will function.

Q

The role of MARK is often described using the international bank rescue term “bad bank”. But isn’t MARK actually doing something different from rescuing banks?

A: That is correct. Today in Hungary there is no acute financial crisis, and so there is no need for bank rescues. The banks are okay on their own. On the other hand, the ratio of non−performing loans is still very high six years after the start of the financial crisis. The banks cannot cope with that alone. The first generation asset managers dealt with cleaning the portfolios of the banks that had got into a difficult situation. MARK Zrt., however, represents the second generation of asset managers. We are a tool in the hands of the central bank that cuts the top 500 non−performing project finance loans out of the banking system. MARK is a pioneering institution in this sense.

Q

Bank and real estate professionals have expressed concerns that you will pressure banks into selling all of their non−performing loans for a pre−determined percentage of the book value. Is that true, or do you handle bad loans individually?

A: To confute all sorts of market rumors,

Csaba Kandrács: Makes irreistible offers to business partners.

I’d like to state that MARK is a market actor, and we will acquire real estate at market value. We are going to consider each deal individually and we will bargain on them accordingly. We will not compel any of our business partners to do anything. Quite the contrary, we will make irresistible offers. MARK is neither a state authority nor a fire sale speculator seeking to acquire real estate at liquidation value.

Q

So overall you believe that banks will be satisfied with your operations?

A: We strive for transparency above all, because we are serving a public purpose.

The percentage of non−performing loans in the Hungarian banking system has been very high for a long time now. That is a macro prudential risk for the whole banking system. The leadership of the MNB [National Bank of Hungary] created MARK Zrt. so it can reduce this percentage by freeing the banks from those loans. The result is public benefit. The willingness of the commercial banks to make loans will increase as they don’t need to create provisions covering non−performing loans. They also don’t need to bother about foreclosed real estate. The benefit of MARK Zrt. will be that the banks can concentrate on giving new loans to material production companies, which boosts the economy.

Q

MARK is expected to support the central bank’s program for economic recovery. How can you measure successful operation?

A: This doesn’t mean business success in the ordinary sense. Regarding the big goal, boosting the economy, it is irrelevant whether MARK Zrt. is profitable or not. What is irrelevant will be in our balance sheet ten years from now.

On a macro level, the profit of MARK Zrt. will be that we restarted the lending of the commercial banks. As far as my personal contribution is concerned, I will do all I can to make MARK Zrt. profitable by the end of the ten−year period that MNB has planned for us. However that will only be a profit on a micro level.

Q

Obviously the central bank has put constraints on your business operations.

What are they?

A: Pre−eminently, the HUF 300 billion credit facility of MNB is available for ten years, which does not mean that we will spend all that money. I personally think that we have to spend at least HUF 300 bln for a breakthrough on a macro level.

Another constraint is that we can only deal either with loans surpassing HUF 500 mln or with real estate that is worth more than HUF 200 mln. The reason behind this is that we should concentrate on major deals. By the end of June, I want to close consultations with the Hungarian Banking

Association about the code of proceedings.

Afterwards we will make requests for proposals from the banks: In the first round for major syndicated loans; a second round for hotel project loans will follow.

Q

How about an exit? What are your plans for the real estate you will acquire?

A: We want to handle our future real estate assets in different ways. As for the best projects, they simply need to be finished. Then there will be those that need to be rethought, where a change of function will be needed, repositioning them on the market. Finally, yet importantly, there will be those that will be sold in a bigger portfolio together.

This way new potential buyers may pop up who, because of economies of scale, wouldn’t be interested otherwise.

Q

Why do you think MARK’s newly formed staff will manage to succeed where their commercial bank “workout” predecessors failed?

A: I have deep confidence in our colleagues. Currently there we are 25 people at MARK, each of us are the best of our professions. At the peak of our operation, we will be a team of 65 people.

Additionally we will be much more targeted and dedicated, because while the people at the workout departments had to make compromises, we don’t.

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12

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

GRUPPO T.F.M. KFT. 1068 Budapest, Király u. 102.

1ST DISTRICT

3RD DISTRICT

5TH DISTRICT

9TH DISTRICT

11TH DISTRICT

13TH DISTRICT

86 SQM – 3 ROOMS + HALL, BATTHYÁNY STR.

29 SQM – 1 ROOM, VÁRADI STREET

138 SQM – 4 ROOMS + HALL, ST. ISTVÁN CIRCUIT

64 SQM – 2 ROOMS, IPAR STREET

262 SQM – 8 ROOMS, SZENTPÉTERY STREET

51 SQM – SHOP, TISZA STREET

This well divided, street and garden facing apartment has separate rooms, private gas heating, balcony and it is situated in a well maintained building.

This park facing, sunny apartment in good condition benefits of balcony and it is situated in a well maintained building.

Beautiful panorama over the Danube, this very spacious apartment has separate rooms, 2 bathrooms and 2 separate entrances and it is situated in an eclectic style period building.

In a Bauhaus style building, this street facing apartment in good condition has separate rooms, balcony, private gas heating and air conditioning system.

In a quiet side street this 2 storey family house in good condition built on 1296 sqm of lot, has terrace, roof terrace, nice garden and parking space.

This very bright, well divided, street facing shop in good condition consists of 2 rooms, kitchen and bathroom and it is located in a busy street.

75.900.000 HUF

18.750.000 HUF

155.500.000 HUF

15.900.000 HUF

25.600.000 HUF

+36.1.201.0403

1ST DISTRICT

12.900.000 HUF

+36.1.430.1403

3RD DISTRICT

+36.70.222.5063

6TH DISTRICT

+36.70.414.7126

10TH DISTRICT

+36.1.720.2433

12TH DISTRICT

+36.70.414.7759

15TH DISTRICT

109 SQM – 4 ROOMS + HALL, HATTYÚ STREET

97 SQM – 3 ROOMS, ÚJLAK

114 SQM – 4 ROOMS, KIRÁLY STREET

130 SQM – 5 ROOMS, VÁLTÓ STREET

70 SQM – 2 ROOMS, MÁRVÁNY STREET

180 SQM – 6 ROOMS, KERTVÁROS

This very sunny and spacious, street facing apartment has 2 balconies, very bright dining room and private gas heating and it is located close to the Mammut shopping mall.

Adjacent to the roman Amphitheatre, this completely renovated, sunny, street facing apartment has balcony, air conditioning system and underfloor heating.

This completely renovated, spacious apartment benefits of separate rooms, fully fitted open kitchen with living room, 2 bathrooms and it is situated in a nice period building with elevator.

This three storey family house has 828 sqm of lot, 2 living rooms with nice fireplace, fully fitted kitchen, 2 bathrooms, terrace, balcony and garage.

In a renovated building, this very sunny and spacious, completely renovated, street facing apartment has bright kitchen and it is located close to the MOM Park shopping mall.

This completely renovated, two storey family house built on 450 sqm of lot, has 2 fully fitted open kitchens with 2 living rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and parking space in the garden.

38.500.000 HUF

24.900.000 HUF

44.900.000 HUF

35.900.000 HUF

25.000.000 HUF

44.000.000 HUF

+36.1.201.0403

2ND DISTRICT

+36.1.430.1403

4TH DISTRICT

+36.70.322.3697

7TH DISTRICT

+36.70.268.5017

10TH DISTRICT

+36.1.789.2846

12TH DISTRICT

+36.70.398.8754

15TH DISTRICT

71 SQM – 3 ROOMS, RÓKUSHEGYI SCALE

180 SQM – 9 ROOMS, MEGYER

128 SQM – 4 ROOMS, DÓZSA GYÖRGY STREET

249 SQM – 7 ROOMS, DÖMSÖDI STREET

63 SQM – 2 ROOMS, EDVI ILLÉS STREET

320 SQM – 6 ROOMS, PESTÚJHELY

Beautiful panorama over the hills, this renovated apartment has spacious open kitchen with living room and benefits of 100 sqm of common roof terrace and well kept common garden.

This two storey family house has 530 sqm of lot, 2 kitchens, 2 bathrooms, terrace and garage and it is located in a garden suburb area.

Beautiful panorama over the City Park from the 2 balconies, this very spacious and bright, top floor apartment has separate rooms and it is situated in a period building with elevator.

In a quiet garden suburb area, this two storey family house built on 1243 sqm of lot and consists of 2 separate apartments with 2 balconies, terrace and garage.

Beautiful view over the forest, this completely renovated, quiet, top floor apartment has 21 sqm of terrace and open kitchen. Parking space possibility for 4.000.000 HUF.

This 4 storey family house that needs renovation has 476 sqm of lot, 2 kitchens, 3 bathrooms, 2 balconies and garage.

27.500.000 HUF

49.900.000 HUF

30.000.000 HUF

39.900.000 HUF

+36.1.336.1706

31.990.000 HUF

+36.1.782.7275

+36.70.322.3697

+36.70.268.5017

46.900.000 HUF

2ND DISTRICT

4TH DISTRICT

7TH DISTRICT

119 SQM – 4 ROOMS, JEGENYEFA STREET

108 SQM – 4 ROOMS, ALMÁSSY SQUARE

74 SQM – 2 ROOMS, MÁNYOKI STREET

30 SQM – 1 ROOM, HEGEDŰS GYULA STREET

113 SQM – 4 ROOMS, RÁKOSSZENTMIHÁLY

This completely renovated, top floor apartment with nice view has 3 separate bedrooms, 1 living room with floor to ceiling windows, 2 bathrooms and balcony.

Close to the Szilas creek, this two storey, well divided terraced house in good condition built on 100 sqm of lot, has 2 bathrooms, garage and nice garden.

Nice view over the Almássy Square, this very bright and spacious apartment has separate rooms, private gas heating and it is situated in a renovated period building.

Beautiful panorama over the Citadel, this very bright apartment due to the large windows has separate rooms, spacious dining room and 2 balconies.

Close to the beautiful St. István Park, this apartment in good condition has private gas heating and it is situated in a very nice period building.

In a quiet side street, this well divided family house in good condition built on 1080 sqm of lot, has separate rooms, 53 sqm of terrace and garage.

53.900.000 HUF

34.900.000 HUF

93.000 EUR

32.900.000 HUF

10.500.000 HUF

31.900.000 HUF

2ND DISTRICT

+36.1.782.7275

5TH DISTRICT

+36.70.322.3697

7TH DISTRICT

+36.1.784.0707

11TH DISTRICT

80 SQM – 3 ROOMS, MECSET STREET

78 SQM – 3 ROOMS, BÁTHORY STREET

84 SQM – 3 ROOMS, DOHÁNY STREET

59 SQM – 2 ROOMS, BERCSÉNYI STREET

View over the Rose Garden of Gül Baba, this apartment benefits of 2 balconies, rosewood parquet in the rooms, granite cladding in the kitchen and marble cladding in the bathroom.

This apartment is situated within a renovated period building, benefits of a very high ceiling (more than 5 meters), private gas heating.

Historical Jewish area, adjacent to the Synagogue. This completely renovated apartment benefits of a fully fitted new kitchen and two bathrooms.

In a new, modern style building with elevator, this very well divided, sunny, high floor apartment has open kitchen, balcony and air conditioning system.

31.900.000 HUF

39.500.000 HUF

54.900.000 HUF

+36.1.336.1706

2ND DISTRICT

26.000.000 HUF

+36.70.3156.087

5TH DISTRICT

+36.70.3156.087

8TH DISTRICT

+36.1.784.0707

54 SQM – 2 ROOMS, HAVAS STREET

104 SQM – 3 ROOMS, BRÓDY SÁNDOR STREET

156 SQM – 5 ROOMS, MAJOR STREET

Breathtaking panorama over the Buda Hills, this spacious apartment has 30 sqm of closed terrace, separate entrance and garage and it is situated in a renovated condominium.

In the city centre, close to the Danube, in a quiet street, this street facing apartment in good condition has private gas heating and it is situated in a nice period building.

Close to the National Museum, in a renovated period building, this very quiet apartment benefits of 3 separate rooms, terrace and private gas heating.

This three storey semi-detached house in good condition has 160 sqm of lot, 4 bathrooms, balcony, loggia and garage and it is located in a quiet garden suburb area.

59.900.000 Ft

31.900.000 HUF

28.900.000 HUF

47.500.000 HUF

+36.70.222.5063

+36.70.414.7126

+36.70.414.7759

16TH DISTRICT

+36.70.337.2499

The Moment when you think of a home that suits you Are you searching for apartment?

11TH DISTRICT

133 SQM – 3 ROOMS, FERENCHEGYI STREET

+36.1.376.6080

13TH DISTRICT

+36.70.398.8754

97 SQM – 4 ROOMS, HŰVÖSVÖLGYI STREET

+36.1.376.6080

11TH DISTRICT

+36.1.789.2846

+36.1.720.2433

www.tecnocasa.hu CONTACT US: INFO@TECNOCASA.HU

EACH AGENCY INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED. • THESE OFFERS ARE VALID, TILL THE APARTMENTS ARE SOLD. • THESE INFORMATION DO NOT CONSTITUTE A CONTRACTUAL ELEMENT.

BBJ

3Special Report Jobs of the future 16

HUMAN RESOURCES Recruitment and HR management help keep Hungary working.

This special report looks at recruiters, the most−sought− after jobs, pay scales and the training that goes into improving Hungary’s human capital.

Business coaches 20

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Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

When Hungary gets busy, recruiters get busy too Benefits of: Hays Tammy Nagy-Stellini, CEO, explains why her firm is special: “We are experts in what we do – each speciality has a dedicated team that has extensive knowledge to support our clients. [...] Furthermore, our replacement ratio is very low, so when we place a candidate we do place the right candidate in the right role. We look forward to this year since we believe we will further be able to expand and build on what we have achieved to date.”

Benefits of: Adecco

If you consider increased hiring as a sign of healthy business, then Hungary is doing fine, according to the people who work at finding workers. We spoke to temporary and permanent recruitment agencies about current growth and their business in general.

BBJ STAFF

Those seeking a sure sign that the Hungarian economy is improving need look no further than the recruitment agencies. People at some of the big permanent and temporary employment agencies, in Budapest as well as the rest of the country, indicate that employers are hiring to the point where good help is getting hard to find. That is precisely the time when most companies turn to recruitment agencies, to find the remaining good job candidates, or to obtain temporary help while they permanently retool.

The Budapest Business Journal interviewed representatives of recruiting firms and temp agencies, and obtained some interesting insights into the current economy and the employment business.

Business improving “The number of hired employees has been increasing rapidly for the last 12 months,” said Péter Berta, CEO of WHC, a recruiting company with an office in Budapest and four other towns in Western Hungary. “The business situation is getting better and better, especially in the automotive sector. We’ve noticed a strong demand on hiring.”

Ottó Vég, CEO of the Budapest temporary agency Adecco said his firm was also seeing

growth. “The manufacturing and automotive industry is experiencing an increasing number of incoming orders. As a result they are in need of qualified and experienced employees, who are getting difficult to recruit,” he said. “In response to changing needs, partner companies have revised their work infrastructure, requirements and former agreements with temporary agencies.”

For Csongor Juhász, managing director of the Prohumán temp agency, the improvement was overdue. “The economic crisis had an markedly stronger impact on the HR sector. Factories reduced the headcount to reduce costs. A huge number of employees moved to the neighboring countries,” he said.

“As more investment is coming to Hungary, more employees are needed, so that we need to invite back the employees from abroad, and we need to find high numbers of appropriate employees in the whole country.”

Other firms also spoke of impressive demand. “Last year the consolidated sales revenue of Pannonjob Ltd. increased by 28.5% compared to that of 2013, therefore it can be concluded that considering the apparent economic growth and the demand for labor increasing parallel to it, we have achieved significant improvement,” said a statement from Fatime Touré and Attila Molnár, the general managers of Pannonjob Ltd., a recruitment firm with seven offices around

Ottó Vég, CEO, tells us why his firm is special: “We are proud of our continuously trained, professional staff ; high industry experience; global and nation-wide branch coverage; pre-screened database of 75,000 candidates. Our large multinational clients increasingly call on us to manage their contingent workforce. [...]

Our services include candidate sourcing, screening and assessment, contingent workforce management, staffing management solutions, KPI based advised analytics, and operational reporting as well.”

Benefits of: Randstad Sándor Baja, general manager, says why his firm is special: “Randstad has already shown, its capability to deliver quickly, in big numbers, talents in scarce profiles, services from recruitment to executive search, RPO, staffing and outplacement. With the highest number of consultants on the market, we dedicate big attention to every client and assignment. Our 11 years of building a database of 270,000 people is the highest among recruitment companies, and ensures quick reaction to any demand on the market. Our international network (one of the biggest HR services providers worldwide) ensures high quality and reliability.”

Hungary. “A pre−crisis trend can be seen in the labor market, meaning there are a huge number of open positions, while there is a limited number of candidates with relevant qualifications, experience and language skills.”

László Mátyás is managing director of HSA Kft., which handles temporary and permanent employment out of a Budapest office, four offices in eastern Hungary and one just over the Romanian border, in Oradea. He said rapid improvement is leading to a demand for his firm’s services.

“A swift increase has been noticeable in the labor market since last summer.

Thanks to this, we have managed to regain the same level of business we had prior the depression of 2008,” Mátyás said. “In the last couple of months, many companies that had been our partners prior to the recession have contacted us, as they have just regained their footing well enough to need extra labor again. Due to this tendency, a ‘vacuum’ was created in the labor market, and the available workforce has shrunk significantly – thus, the external recruitment agencies’ role

and responsibility in satisfying these labor needs are revalorized.”

Sándor Baja, general manager of Budapest−based recruiters Randstad Hungary, said his firm is doing well too.

“We are experiencing very strong, double− digit growth as compared to last year,” he said. “The reason is probably the positive economic environment: Companies are looking at enlarging the number of employees in almost every sector, but especially car manufacturing and SSCs [shared service centers].”

At Hays Hungary, a recruiting firm headquartered in Budapest, “business is good and has been increasing and continues to increase”, according to Tammy Nagy−Stellini, CEO. “All our specialties have seen an increase in recruitment projects. Accountancy and finance, sales and marketing, IT, engineering, business services (specializing in shared service centers), logistics, supply chain and HR have all seen an increase – along with life sciences, which for some time had seen a decrease in projects though this has also turned around.”

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drivers, CNC operators, welders, quality engineers and mechanical engineers are in great demand.”

Molnár of Pannonjob noted another area where demand is high: “There is a significant shortage of IT professionals, as well. With those positions requiring secondary qualifications and less specialized skills, in−house training has become more common, while in other areas, primarily those involving developers, this cannot solve the problem,” he said. According to the statement from the Pannonjob managers: “In the case of scarce professions, or jobs with special requirements, we use evermore specialized methods and techniques, extending them continuously to meet the market demand.”

permanent position, and by then they will know if they want it.

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

Benefits of: HSA Kft. László Mátyás, managing director, tells us why his firm is special: “We offer round-the-clock service to our partners, so it doesn’t matter when the order comes in, our colleagues will be available. It proved to be very useful, as our partners know that even if they call it in at 11 in the evening, they can rest assured, the required labour force will be with them the next morning.

HSA also often undertake extra chores that would not be our responsibility normally, like organizing OHS trainings, handing out the OHS equipment, and handling registries. We strive to make staffing matters for our partners as easy as possible.”

Benefits of: Pannonjob Fatime Touré and Attila Molnár, general managers, share why their firm is special: “Currently, we provide services to more than 200 companies; therefore in almost any area we can respond to HR related requests and demand with real, practical solutions. […] We continuously improve our services to reflect the market demand and our customers’ needs. One of our tools for this is measuring customer satisfaction, and we use the results to improve our processes and services continuously.”

Benefits of: Prohumán Csongor Juhász, managing director, tells us why his firm is special: “As Hungary’s second largest HR consulting firm, our goal is to contribute to the success of our customers with our more than a decade of experience. We can take an active part in the development of business and solving emerging human resource needs. We offer all this cost-efficiently, in the shortest possible period of time. Furthermore, as a member of Work Service International group we can provide other job opportunities for the candidates in 12 countries.”

Benefits of: WHC Péter Berta, CEO, explains why his firm is special: “This year we are celebrating 25 years of WHC. Years of experience, flexibility and our highly qualified consultants are our main advantages. We are located close to our customers and We Honestly Care not only for our customers, but also for our employees.”

SSCs impact on hiring Along with production, another type of business that has been growing in Hungary is that of SSCs, where big corporations locate all their back−office services for the region in one office, with employees who specialize in areas such as IT, accounting, HR, or other services that can be centralized. These offices can have several hundred staffers, who must all be hired at once, and the trend of opening SSCs has had a big impact on recruitment agencies here.

According to Baja of Randstad, when it comes to SSCs, “More and more jobs are filled through headhunting versus databases, which shows the scarcity in the work force.” He said companies have to turn to his recruitment agency to deal with the shortage, which is “due to a lower number of young people and migration to the West”.

Hays Hungary is another firm that does a lot of work with SSCs. “We have a special team purely dedicated for shared service centers. We have played, and still play a major role, with supporting new centers to establish their team when they decide to set up here in Hungary,” says Nagy− Stellini. “We also support existing shared service centers who are expanding by bringing in further processes to Hungary, or simply needing further talent.”

Temporary hiring Who’s getting hired While Nagy−Stellini noted growth for all types of work, the growing demand that these recruitment and temp agencies are seeing seems especially strong in certain areas. “Engineers are always in demand and it is very much a candidate−driven market. In Hungary, our experience is that the demand is high in the fields of quality management, R&D, mechanical and electrical design engineers,” Nagy−Stellini said. “Most OEM [original equipment manufacturer] factories have outstanding cooperation with technical universities, but the demand is not filled totally, because the growing automotive sector always needs skilled engineers. [‥] We are continuously putting effort into building strong connections with the biggest players all around the country. Thanks to these connections and this knowledge we have access to great numbers of engineering experts.”

Mátyás of HSA said industrial growth has reached eastern Hungary as well.

“Fortunately, in the last three years, many serious investors have arrived

to this region as well, building up new service parks and manufacturing plants. These companies have taken up most of the foreign−language speaking candidates and the qualified workforce in the fields of engineering, IT and logistics – even human resources professionals!” he said. “To react to the elevated demand for these highly qualified professionals, we are also recruiting in neighboring countries like Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, since there are just not enough qualified candidates in Hungary.”

According to Berta from WHC, it’s not only engineers who are getting harder to find. “Several other occupations such as production executive, logistic, supply chain and quality management positions are in high demand,” he said. “We are filling that demand.”

Baja from Randstad noted that the growth in production in Hungary is increasing demand in several key areas.

“The car and car−related industries are booming. Hungary is a big logistics center as well,” he said. “So forklift

In this improving market, a lot of firms find that temporary help is a good solution to meet sudden demand.

Temporary agencies say they are ready to adjust to meet demand. “Increased market competiveness, orders with tighter deadlines and a continuously evolving business environment have motivated companies to change their approach and cooperate with temporary employment agencies,” according to Adecco CEO Vég.

“There might be occasions when they have to employ a hundred new employees in a short period of time due to volatile demand. In the past two years, our partners have increased expectations in terms of work experience, work ethic and the character of candidates. There is a constant need to seek out the best candidates, who become scarcer as demand increases.”

According to Juhász of Prohumán, both employers and employees like temporary assignments because it lets them try each other out. If an employee does well in a temporary job, they may be offered a

Juhász said there are certain times when companies find special benefits in hiring temp workers: “• to supply the number of staff required to increase production processes; • to resolve any obstacles caused by a recruitment freeze or by exceeding the allocated remuneration budget; • to employing semi−skilled or skilled workers to meet production needs; • to implement cost savings or reallocations; • to substitute own employees (for periods of sick leave, paid leave or maternity leave); • to provide labor supply on a continued basis for seasonal, temporary activities, and to manage fluctuations in a flexible manner; • to provide numbers of staff for fixed term projects.”

When it comes to placing temps outside of Budapest, Mátyás of HSA said that part of the challenge has been teaching companies the true benefits of temporary workers. “Back in 2000, when we started our business, temporary staffing firms were not widely known or understood in eastern Hungary, so our first task was often to explain what opportunities this solution can hold for our partners,” explained Mátyás, adding that firms were originally surprised to discover that temp workers can cost more than permanent workers. “The problem was never just to make the companies see temporary staffing for the great opportunity it is, but to also make them accept the costs of it. It is still a challenge sometimes.”

Location, location, location As Mátyás notes, working outside the capital involves different needs and attitudes, and not only when it comes to temporary workers. “We have local knowledge, we understand the special needs and hardships in our region, and know the solutions for them as well,” he said “We never aspired to cover the entire country; instead we focus our expertise to provide full service in eastern Hungary.

Our partners know this too; we have become recognized for it.”

According to Molnár of Pannonjob, it is essential for a recruitment agency to be physically close to its customers.

“Currently there are seven Pannonjob offices in Hungary, and our eighth is on the way,” he said. “As a countryside− based HR service provider, the basis of our business model has always been that in regions of potential business prospects we provide our labor services with locally based offices,” said the Pannonjob manager, Attila Molnar.

“We highly consider local presence an advantage since, with the current labor market conditions, knowledge of the area, geographical proximity and availability have gained importance, for employers and candidates as well.”

According to Berta of WHC, which has most of its offices in western Hungary, “in the northwest of Hungary, it is more difficult to recruit than in the capital because of the lower salary rates and the near location to Austria. We’ve established our business model to meet these challenges, so we have solutions.”

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Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

For jobs of the future, never s

Pay attention! IT and pharma are expected to provide work, as is learning a craft. But experts say readiness to learn is vital.

Ask the experts what kinds of jobs will be in demand in ten years’ time and they’ll tell you they don’t know. In fact, local experts say, many of the jobs of the future don’t even exist yet.

But recruitment specialists do predict that the new types of work will involve a readiness for life−long learning. They also note that the new work force of ‘generation Z’ will demand more flexibility, and the chance to be creative, in their jobs.

PROMOTION

Work Force builds on innovative solutions in order to stay on top According to MD Róbert Csákvári, Work Force Kft. pursues a strategy where customer needs are addressed by using innovative, personalized solutions. The result is impressive growth.

Q: Work Force is one of the five biggest temporary placement agencies in Hungary. What does it take to stay on top?

A: A network of offices at ten locations in the country provides us with a great insight into the entire domestic market.

This makes our services very attractive for employers that face a scarcity of skilled labor evermore often. They seek partners that have a vast pool of potential candidates in their database on a regional basis. It is getting hard to find enough competent professionals in certain areas, and Hungarian workers have never been famous for their mobility. This requires even more expertise to find the right person for the right job.

Q: The job market seems to be reviving in the aftermath of the crisis. How is the landscape being transformed?

A: The market and with it customer needs are changing and we are excellent at adapting quickly and efficiently. Our innovative solutions have been constantly at the epicenter of our strategy. Work Force has always stood for innovation and this approach has apparently paid off, as demonstrated by the relevant growth figures.

Q: Both your staff and the number of candidates placed in jobs have gone up 30% since 2012, but revenues have grown even faster. Can you explain?

A: Our core business initially focused on

Year

Róbert Csákvári, managing director.

temporary staffing, but now our scope of activities covers the entire spectrum of related areas such as permanent placement, recruitment of executives, HR outsourcing, and adult training. Work Force has expanded so much that a separate recruitment department was set up alongside the project management team. We now manage to use significantly more resources on assessing and meeting the needs of our clients.

Q: What is your methodology for giving customers personalized services?

A: Our overall policy is to take customers’ needs into account to the greatest extent and offer them tailor-made solutions that address their specific problems. Our key interest lies in the automotive sector, with

Revenues (bln HUF)

Average number of staff

2012

3.77

1,338

2013

4.26

1,437

2014

5.98

2,104

around 60% of our business conducted in relation to that. In order to deepen our insight there, we wanted to get first-hand information of the industry. Therefore, alongside gathering information from the HR experts of the relevant firms, we directly approached executives dealing with manufacturing. By gaining a detailed overview of the branch-specific aspects, we can solidify our expert position.

Q: Broad acceptance of temporary staffing appeared in the last decade in Hungary. How did that happen?

A: Attitudes have been undergoing a material change in the past few years.

Employers treat their temporary staff on an equal level with their permanently employed workers, providing the same benefits, bonuses and training for them.

The scheme has evolved into a test period where temporary wrokers can earn the chance to be hired for the long-term.

Q: Has the mindset of workers adapted accordingly as well?

A: Temporary employment has definitely gained respect among employees too.

They have accepted that it’s a normal way to be employed and now they rather

see it as a means to make a living and support their families. This development has been helped by the relevant legislation that softened the rules on temporary employment. Companies can now react to fluctuations in manpower demand a lot more flexibly than before.

Q: Given your local success, are you planning international expansion?

A: Our recruitment efforts include targeting Hungarians living in neighboring countries. But launching international operations aimed at providing our services abroad is planned in the midterm at the earliest.

Q: A significant part of your policy concerns sports sponsorship.

A: Our company emphasizes the importance of sports; therefore, we sponsor several top Hungarian athletes, in kayaking for instance.

Q: Can you say something about your extensive CSR activities?

A: Under our CSR policy, we are committed to supporting the disabled.

Accordingly we not only deal with their temporary staffing under a “try & hire” scheme, but we also employ more than 100 ourselves: We are proud of a related recent Disabled Friendly Workplace Award. This corresponds to our service philosophy, according to which every human being is valuable and everyone’s dignity must be respected at all times.

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LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH

Experts say that a good education, including foreign languages and computer skills, will be essential for Hungarian workers seeking jobs in the future. But they have a harder time saying exactly what kinds of jobs will be available.

“Just as we couldn’t foresee the current labor market demand structure ten years ago, it is difficult to provide a precise projection for the future. A major share of today’s university students will work in positions that don’t even exist yet,” Tamás Fehér, managing director of Trenkwalder Kft., a leading recruitment company, says. “One thing is sure: Development will remain technology−based, and it will run at high speed primarily in pharmaceuticals and IT.”

Never-ending training

(mostly English and German), since the engineering teams of multinational companies pursue their activities all over the world, and those teams need to be able to work together regardless of the place of production,” Ottó Vég, head of Adecco says. “Those speaking more exotic tongues such as Russian, or a Scandinavian or Asian language, can expect even better perspectives, a trend that is justified by the expanding SSC sector in Hungary as well.”

Labor market and education Many criticize the Hungarian education system for not providing students with enough practical knowledge. Thus, supply hardly meets labor market demand.

“Universities do not always follow companies’ needs, and it is apparent when looking at the number of young unemployed or those leaving their initial career path. A more intensive consultation between employers and higher education institutions may help fine−tune these two sides,” Baja explains.

A lot will come down to the quality of education, because employers give priority to workers having the right skills, and not specific knowledge. “You won’t need to be familiar with a given process since speedy development will overwrite that; rather the education system will be expected to provide continuous learning capacity and creativity,” Fehér says.

In a way, this is great news for parents worried about selecting the right career path for their offspring: Apparently they haven’t missed a thing. But it would be silly to sit back and relax for future jobseekers. Instead they should rather prepare themselves for the opposite.

“From a professional point of view, you can lag behind within such a short period as three−five years, for instance in the field of online marketing. So if you want to keep up your competitiveness, you will have to learn and improve all the time,” Sándor Baja, CEO of Randstad Hungary notes.

Startup wave As emphasized by experts the Budapest Business Journal talked to, this core A generational shift will reach workplaces too attitude of permanent self−improvement with members of the so−called “generation will become critical not only for those Z” soon banging on the doors. But thanks earning a degree in higher education. to an increasingly worldwide startup “Skillful craftsmen will be needed in every culture, it is a question whether there will sector in ten years time be enough of them willing as well. Expertise and an to become employees at immaculate knowledge of all. According to a global “You won’t need different work phases will study by Millennial remain indispensable for Branding and Randstad to be familiar with competitive operation.

U.S., members of a given process generation Z are a lot more If you start a career in a ambitious about becoming profession that is in high since speedy entrepreneurs than their demand at present, you should be well placed in a immediate predecessors, development will decade too, provided you namely generation Y, with overwrite that.” keep training yourself,” 17% of the former into Fehér says. Blue−collar starting a business and hiring others. jobs also involve a lot Startups have created new work of automation now, which increases the demand for related skills. In Hungary, the environments and employers must offer automotive industry is where it will be of something similarly appealing in the most importance. race for talent. “Executives must adapt and ensure appropriate motivation for this group of young people attracted by Start using dictionaries startups, who regard self−fulfillment as You can also take it for granted that their number one priority,” notes Baja. speaking languages will gain only further Experts therefore expect fierce competition significance. “Even in the field of physical between firms when it comes to hunting work, candidates are expected to have a down competent professionals.

“The internal structures of offices tend basic command of one foreign tongue.

Mastering English shall be an essential to follow the style preferred by members part of selection, whereas a second of generations Y and Z, work place codes language should be a more decisive factor have become more relaxed, and the need for employment,” Baja adds. for so−called ‘fun raising’ has emerged as IT specialists and engineers, the all− a result of which in−house entertainment time favorites of headhunters, won’t get tools will gain on significance,” Vég away with sloppy language skills, either. observes. “This can enhance the “In their case, the requirement will move satisfaction and creativity of employees, towards knowing two active languages which is crucial to boost loyalty.”

EXPERT OPINION

A Short Guide to Employment Contracts Péter Bán Senior lawyer CMS CAMERON MCKENNA LLP HUNGARIAN OFFICE

The following article will give you some useful hints on how to prepare legally and commercially feasible employment contracts under the new Hungarian Labour Code. The actual terms and conditions of an employment contract strongly depend on the employer’s operation, structures, the given position and the parties’ negotiations.

A

s a general rule, in their employment contract the parties may deviate from most of the rules of the Labour Code (or from a collective bargaining agreement) as long as the change is beneficial to the employee. However, certain rules of the Labour Code expressly prohibit changes. It is also important to keep in mind that the amendment of the contractual terms is only possible with the consent of both parties.

The employment contract must be concluded in writing and must specify certain mandatory terms to be valid. These terms are the parties of the employment, the employee’s gross base salary (not less than the statutory minimum salary) and the position. There are optional terms that need to be expressly stipulated in the contract in order to apply. The most important examples are the following: If the parties intend to have a part-time employment, this must be expressed in the contract, otherwise it will be deemed to be concluded for fulltime employment.

Similarly the fixed-term (maximum 5 years) nature of the employment must also be stated in the contract. The parties might agree on a probationary period (not exceeding 3 months) which is quite common in practice but this also needs to be stipulated in the contract to apply.

In case of contractual senior executive employees, this status must be specifically agreed in the contract if its statutory terms and conditions are met. As a consequence, different rules will apply to the employee in relation to termination, conflict of interest, liability.

It is worth noting that in case of senior executives, in the contract the parties may deviate from many rules of the Labour Code even to the detriment of the

employee, therefore, there is more room for negotiations.

Although the place of work is not an essential term, it is advisable to specify it in the contract to minimise the risk of dispute.

It can be determined as one or more concrete places or by way of reference to a bigger geographical area. Otherwise, the place where work is normally carried out is deemed to be the place of work.

Considering the salary, the parties may agree that the employee’s base salary includes certain allowances (e.g. shift allowance, night work allowance). It is also possible to agree in the contract that instead of allowances a monthly lump sum is provided to the employee.

The scheduling of the working time is the employer’s competence, but it is important to mention that the parties’ agreement is required to apply a break longer than 20 minutes but maximum 60 minutes (e.g. a one-hour lunch break).

Regarding the annual leave the parties may stipulate certain terms and conditions to make the allocation more flexible or stipulating the possibility to allocate certain part of the annual leave in the next calendar year.

If the employer intends to apply disciplinary sanctions, they need to be stipulated in the contract if there is no collective bargaining agreement applicable. In case of the termination rules mostly the general rule applies (i.e. deviation in favour of the employee), but the parties can agree in the contract in longer notice period (maximum 6 months) applicable even in the case of the employee’s regular notice (which would otherwise be 30 days not increasing based on seniority).

It is practical to consider terms and conditions in the contract the purpose of which is to clarify the general principles of employment. Here we can mention the general principle to protect the employer’s economic interests and reputation, the rules on conflict of interest and confidentiality.

Finally, the parties need to agree on certain terms and conditions in their contract in case of atypical employment relationships (e.g. telework, job sharing and employment with multiple employers).

www.cms-cmck.com

NOTE: ALL ARTICLES MARKED EXPERT OPINIONS ARE PAID PROMOTIONAL CONTENT FOR WHICH THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL DOES NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

stop studying

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Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

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Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

Dual training grows in popularity Carmakers and other private firms are paying students to take more practical, job−oriented training in special programs designed to improve the supply of Hungarian workers.

Nemak’s plant in Győr producing cylinders for car engines, and SAP Hungary, the local unit of the international software firm, are companies that plan to roll out dual training programs this year. Beginning in August 2015, SAP will send five Hungarian students to Germany for three years in partnership with Baden−Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University Mannheim and SAP headquarters, all fees and expenses covered by the company. The students will return to Hungary to complete the last semester of their education here, but are under no obligation to stay with the company upon graduation. “The program will provide a unique skill set that will support free competition,” says Márk Arató of SAP’s Communications Department.

Upon completion of the program it will be up to the student where they want to work.

“They could choose SAP, they may choose to stay in Germany or go to Singapore for that matter. The program is good for SAP because we have a huge ecosystem,” says Arató, who adds that the program is part of an initiative by SAP to meet increasing demand for IT workers in the EU.

DIANA SEFTON

Education is supposed to prepare students for working life, but according to Zsuzsanna Kovács, Hungarian schooling can sometimes fall short. “It is important for students to be out at the company and develop their soft skills. These cannot be learned by memory, only through practice,” she says. “Many colleges lack training in these skills.”

As head of the Dual Training and Methodological Center at Kecskemét College Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Kovács runs a program to address this lack.

Mercedes Benz in Hungary sponsors the program (effectively giving private support to the Hungarian education system), which is designed to give students valuable job experience, and to give Mercedes better workers. Although one researcher says data indicates students here might benefit from more of a focus on general education, it seems that the current trend favors practical education, and dual training programs are gaining momentum in Hungary.

These generally include a theoretical component to be completed at university and a practical component working with a private company. Some of the best− known examples are in the automotive sector. Mercedes Benz’ program received an Award for Cooperation in Education from the Hungarian Investment and Trade Agency (the predecessor of the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency) in March 2014. The first group of students to complete the course will graduate in February 2016. Meanwhile other major carmakers, such as Audi, have run programs in Hungary since as far back as 2001. And it is not only carmakers; SAP, one of the country’s largest IT firms is launching its own dual training program for students in higher education.

Ready for deployment The idea is that by the time they graduate, the students will be prepared for “immediate deployment” in the words of Dr. Elisabeth Knab, Managing Director of Human Resources at Audi in Hungary. As part of Kecskemét College’s programs with Mercedes and Knorr−Bremse, for example, the students spend 13 weeks at the college, eight weeks at the company, then another 13 weeks of study and return for a 16−week session with the company. The students have a contract with the company and

Not the whole answer

Training at Mercedes, above. At right is Dr. Elisabeth Knab of Audi. receive pay for their work throughout the duration of the program, and the college does not cover any costs associated with the training. Mercedes also has partnerships with Kandó Kálmán and Gáspár András Secondary Schools in Kecskemét.

Data on the success of this education on a national level is not yet widely available, but advocates point to benefits for both company and student. “The students get to know the company during their university studies,” says Knab of Audi. “Simultaneously our company can get access to future employees in due time.” Ákos Németh, Leader of Mercedes’ Educational and Vocational Programs in Kecskemét says the schemes help his firm address the shortage of craftsmen in Hungary. “Our program can be tailored for future needs should there be new market demands,” he adds.

Good results already It would appear that the impact of dual training programs is already significant. Audi Hungary reports that 95% of its current employees have taken part in these programs and that of 400 student participants last year, 102 have been hired as employees.

The company operates programs in 11 departments in cooperation with Széchenyi István University in Győr, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, the University of Miskolc, and the Óbuda University.

Since 2012 the partnership between Mercedes and Kecskemét College has seen enrollment grow from 26 students to more than 130, and the college reports

“The students get to know the company during their university studies.

Simultaneously our company can get access to future employees in due time.” that about 10% of all students at the school currently take part in dual training; it adds that there is increasing demand for the programs, and it hopes to expand them with more corporate sponsorship.

Mercedes started with mechatronic maintenance, vehicle mechatronics, and vehicle coating, and now also include a program for toolmakers and a management program. “From a marketing perspective, this is a great advantage for the college; the number of students is growing and we are becoming known nation−wide for this training program,” says Kovács.

Not everyone believes that dual training programs are the answer, or at least the whole answer. Multinational companies have instituted training and apprenticeship programs in order to improve the talent pool for skilled labor, but some have cited the difficulty in training students who lack basic higher education. According to Dr. Piroska Ailer, Rector of Kecskemét College, it is a challenge for higher education institutions to bring students up to a professional level in just 3.5 years, when 18−year−olds sometimes arrive at college with a 12−year−old’s education level. Not content to wait for government action, Mercedes has a secondary craftsmen−level program for younger students.

Daniel Horn, a research fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and ELTE university has studied the impact of these programs on the work force in Hungary and says data appears to show that students lacking a foundation of general education will not benefit as much from dual training programs that emphasize practical skills over theoretical study.

According to Horn, the main beneficiaries of these programs are the companies, who have a chance to screen potential employees before hiring. Since the passage of a 2011 law requiring Hungarian schools to increase practical and reduce theoretical training, Hungarian students receive about 1.5 years less in general education than a typical German student, he notes.

The researcher says students here would benefit from increased standard schooling.

“Without general skills, practical training is nothing,” he argues. “You can build a nice stadium, but what is the point if you don’t have a team that can play.”

But given the benefits for companies, Horn says he expects dual training to continue to grow in Hungary. Judging by the enthusiasm among schools and companies based here, that assessment seems accurate.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

EXPERT OPINION

To be or not to be (an executive)?

Kinga Hetényi He’ll need colleagues: A worker at the Suzuki plant in Esztergom.

Automakers worry about labor supply Hungary’s booming car business could run into a bottleneck if the supply of skilled workers lags.

DIANA SEFTON

The automotive business is booming in Hungary, with plenty of room to grow, but experts are worried that a lack of qualified workers may become a drag on the sector.

“It’s a miracle they are successful with this shortage of labor,” said Zsolt Szíjártó, managing director of the West Pannon Automotive and Mechatronics Center, and a participant at an April 1 conference on the automotive business, organized by the Hungarian Automotive Industry and news portal Portfolio.hu.

He and other members of the conference agree that there exists a skilled labor force in Hungary, but say its distribution is disproportionately concentrated in Budapest and its surrounding areas.

Labor−force challenges in the auto industry are primarily caused by the rapid expansion of the sector. Players report growth rates ranging from 6% to more than 15%, with some companies saying they have hired more than 1,000 employees in recent years. As Rita Kenyeresné Vörös, HR director at LuK Savaria Kft. explains: “You not only have to attract [employees], you must also retain [them],” and education plays a major role in this. Dr. Árpád Polgár Veres, HR Manager at Alcoa−Köfém Kft. estimates that it takes three years of training and experience for an employee to become fully independent or an expert in his or her position.

Education is key One solution to this dilemma could be dual training education, but this is not the answer to every problem, according to Dr. Piroska Ailer, rector at Kecskemét College, which runs such a program for Mercedes. Ailer suggests that students need better training earlier in their school years. “To say (dual training) is a panacea is an exaggeration; three and a half years is not enough time to cram everything in,” she says. She proposes better investment in education, so that students start

practical training earlier. Szabolcs Szeles, director of financial advisory services for WTS Klient Ltd., consultant to companies looking to enter the Hungarian market, says more jobs will come to the country if it can maintain high education levels.

“Hungary is preferred by investors because our labor force is educated, but we should continue to develop and improve this,” says Szeles. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as the automakers have high standards and expectations for Tier 1 suppliers, among them education standards for workers. Szeles notes that Hungary has a cost advantage for investors as one of the least expensive in the EU for labor, but says this won’t last if its workers don’t stay competitive.

For now, Szeles says, most interest in Hungary continues to be coming from Germany, which accounts for the largest portion of foreign direct investment, although he adds that Asia is growing in importance. “Before, factories were going to China, now China is coming here.” For this reason, he says, German language skills are needed to meet current human resource demands, while English language skills would open the labor force up to more opportunity in the future.

The near−term future of Hungary’s automotive industry is expected to include growth. When polled, 60% of the participants in the conference said they believe one new OEM will enter Hungary in the next three years. This could have a huge impact on labor demand, not only in relation to the OEM directly but also for suppliers and services in the region.

OEMs often provide funding to suppliers for labor training and development purposes, and some even recruit and hire from nearby countries in order to meet their needs.

While there is a need to improve the work force, people in the car business praise Hungarian workers. For example, Uwe Mang of Bosch, which mostly hires engineers at its Hungarian facility, notes: “Our achievements here show that it was worth trusting in the hard work of Hungarians.”

Managing partner SCHOENHERR HETÉNYI ATTORNEYS AT LAW Executives can be further subdivided in two different categories. The first category consists of employees who are actually on the top of the organization, i.e. the managing director and his direct reports who are also entitled to substitute for him or her if absent. When substituting, the direct report does not need to be authorized to exercise all rights of the director; it is sufficient if he or she may substitute for the managing director in certain limited functions. If the company has several managing directors or is lead by a board of directors, each of the directors will qualify as an executive.

These persons qualify automatically as executives without expressing such categorization in a shareholders’ resolution or their employment contracts.

It is usually easy to identify the very top management level. However, if there is no clear organizational chart or there are no detailed job descriptions, there can be some uncertainty as to who can be regarded as a direct report with the right to substitute for the top management. The substance over form rule applies here too: It does not count whether the position is called “vice director” but the actual scope of work and the rights and obligations of the person will decide whether he or she is a direct report with the right to substitute for the top management person.

The second category of executives consists of employees who are expressly declared to be executives. Only employees may be declared as executives who work in either a position which is of special importance for the operations of the employer, or in a position which involves working with highly confidential information. In addition to the special nature of the position, the employee’s agreed gross monthly salary must be at least seven times the statutory minimum wage (in 2015: HUF 735,000). Although there is still very little judicial practice on who can be classified as executive, this above could mean that even the secretary of the managing director may be classified as an executive if she watches the director’s emails, has access to all kinds of confidential information and a salary which exceeds the above threshold.

Interestingly, although the law recognizes two different categories of executives, there are no differences in the rules that apply to them. Both categories receive the same treatment.

The most important deviation from the rules applicable to “ordinary” employees is that, the employment contract of an executive may stipulate also provisions that are less favourable to the employee than the statutory rules (with a few exceptions from this). Whereas, in the case of an “ordinary” employee, no contractual deviation from the statutory rules is permitted if it is less favourable for the employee than the statutory rule. Furthermore, the main rule for executives is that they are authorized to set their own work schedule which also means that they are not entitled to any additional payments for overtime. This increases the performance character of the employment of executives.

As long as all tasks are completed and the affairs within the scope of authority of the employee are taken care of satisfactorily, the executive may not be held accountable for coming to work only at 10 AM. It goes without saying that most probably this will mean for the executive that occasionally he or she may need to stay at work even for the evening without additional financial compensation for the late hours.

The last two important factors to be mentioned are that the employer does not need to indicate any reasons if it decides to terminate the employment of an executive and that the executive will have unlimited liability for any loss or damage that he or she may cause to the employer negligently.

Whereas, the liability of an “ordinary” employee for damage caused negligently is limited to one and a half month’s salary.

Being an executive is, thus, a privilege as it usually entails a higher salary but it also has certain downsides and additional risks for the employee. Based on the statutory rules one would think that employers are keen on qualifying as many as possible employees as executives.

However, I have not actually noticed such endeavours in the practice.

www.schoenherr.eu

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Hungarian law differentiates between “ordinary” employees and executives. The biggest difference is that many provisions of the Hungarian Labour Code which protect “ordinary” employees and restrict what kind of agreement can be made with them do not apply to executives. This means that the law is less protective and more flexible towards executives.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

Business coaches earn local fan base Evermore Hungarian companies are using business coaches to help develop soft skills that can improve productivity.

ANDRÁS ZSÁMBOKI

While many cultures have a long tradition of using business coaches, the idea is relatively new in Hungary. “Some seven years ago a Hungarian company’s HR manager refused our offer, saying that they had no sofa in the office for coachees to lay down on,” Laura Komócsin PPC, managing director of the Hungarian market leading firm Business Coach explained to the Budapest Business Journal. “Fortunately, such a confusion of coaching with psychotherapy would be unimaginable these days.”

Those who do business coaching in Hungary note that there are certain work habits that can be corrected.

These including many problems that are common to all workers – and a couple of problems that are uniquely Hungarian, such as an excess of perfectionism and a tendency to avoid questioning the boss.

Fifteen years ago, only the foreign CEOs of Hungarian subsidiaries of multinational corporations had a business coach, often someone they brought along with them from their own country. These days, Hungarian business coaches are present in all sorts of companies, including giant corporations as well as tiny startups. Top Hungarian coaches with international certification are also working abroad.

Business coaches are meant to increase the capacity of companies and their employees by providing positive support, feedback and advice to help individuals or groups of workers improve their personal effectiveness. Training from business coaches can help a group determine their common goals and figure out how to work together towards them.

For an individual, coaching can help a manager who has succeeded by being strong in certain skills, but realized that he or she could improve in other areas, such as delegating, giving feedback, etc. Experts say that the best business coaches teach soft skills without giving commands, by helping the manager find out for themselves.

Growing demand The most recent market survey conducted

by Business Coach in February shows that the biggest customers are still the Hungarian subsidiaries of the European corporations, mostly from the IT, telecommunications, and financial services sectors. Two−thirds of the questioned corporations had already used a coaching service before and 50% of the rest plan to.

The dynamic growth of the market is due to three basic trends, according to the market survey. Firstly, greater numbers

Laura Komócsin PPC of Business Coach, above. At left, Márta Miatovics of Human Score.

of smaller companies are asking for business coaching services. Secondly, at major corporations an expanding circle of employees is receiving coaching.

Finally, a growing number of internal coaches work together with external coaches in the private and public sectors.

“From a business point of view, the most influential trend is the expansion of the coaches’ circle at our partner companies,” emphasized Komócsin.

Márta Miatovics, senior coach of Human Score Consulting, explained to the BBJ how coaching is becoming less exclusive. “Top executives are not the only clients any more, as number of coaches are exponentially growing from the top of the pyramid towards the bottom.”

The most recent trend, coaching middle management, is increasingly popular and usually takes the form of a team session.

“Contrary to group sessions designed for coaches in peer positions, team coaching aims at employees belonging to the same vertical organization, from branch managers to foremen. This is an excellent form to improve communication and decision making flowing up and down the corporate layers,” explained Miatovics.

In parallel to a broadening of coaching services, nowadays most coaching assignments come from HR departments.

“The reason lying behind this is simple: Business coaching increasingly comes

as the first step of organizational development, which requires the coordination of several coaches,” Klára Lapu, Senior Trainer and Coach of Flow Consulting told the BBJ. “At Flow Consulting, 18 coaches are being employed, so we can handle corporate problems like the improvement of organizational culture and unification.”

According to Flow’s philosophy, organizational development should be carried out like a medical treatment. “We first diagnose the organizational culture, which gives us a picture of cooperation patterns at the corporation. After that, our team begins to work on improving the good patterns and redo the bad ones,” Lapu said. “The first step is providing personal coaching to the corporation’s executive board. After that comes the training of employees.”

accommodation, or being too servile.

“Hungarian employees do not give any feedback to their bosses, especially if their opinion markedly counters that of the boss. It is more likely that they try to pass the task on silently, hoping no one notices,” Lapu said.

Business coaching is one way to address cultural differences that can create minor barriers between Hungarians and expat leaders. “Assertiveness is a bigger problem in Asian cultures than in the American culture. Similarly, Asians have a harder time building a personal brand than Europeans and Americans,” said Business Coach’s Komócsin.

Training can also improve working relationships between men and women.

“Several female colleagues told me that they have no problems with their position in their personal life, but they are treated in a bad way within the company because of their gender,” Komócsin said.

Hungarian work habits Still, most coaches agree that the Coaching Hungarian employees can be problems they address are generally different from coaching people from other common issues, seen among every countries. Diagnostic surveys carried out culture and gender. “Most top executives struggle with universal

by Flow Consulting problems; they have to show that Hungarian organizational culture report to their bosses and commonly has two “Hungarian employees to a professional leader unfortunate features: as well,” Komócsin said. do not give any Perfectionism and a “Eighty percent of my feedback to their tendency to be too clients are from outside servile.

Hungary: from Malaysia, bosses, especially if “The problem with the Netherlands, and perfectionism is that Norway. We communicate their opinion the goals are often via private video call markedly counters services,” she added. unreal; a rather good The fact that she uses so result makes most that of the boss.” much videoconferencing people dissatisfied,” is a symptom of another explained Lapu. The problem that she said consequence of this mentality can be that employees exhaust she has had to address: the growth of themselves without gaining any reward virtual contact. “Apart from the fact from the achievements. “It is a specific that the executive is not able to see his of Hungarian employees that they do not boss, he also has problems motivating even try to integrate their personal goals his employees without meeting them in into the company’s goals, which induces person,” she said. For this – and other them to exploit themselves,” she said. problems – Komócsin said the solution Another local−specific problem is over− could be as simple as good coaching.

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Work-life balance: A problem for all

One answer to the problem is a being able to give a one−word answer, according to Laura Komócsin, managing director of the Hungarian firm Business Coach.

“In order to solve the WLB problem, one needs to possess the ability to say no,” she explained. But Komócsin added that saying “no” is harder than it seems; the executive has to be able to do so both to their family and their boss, while in the meantime handing out tasks to employees in an assertive way.

Coaches can help struggling coachees by making them prioritize tasks. They make clients think through what the consequence of not completing a certain task can be. “I have a surprising experience with overladen bosses; quite often, the real problem is that they do not trust their employees. If that is the case, we check all the employees to see what they are capable of and how loyal they are,” Komócsin said.

In the end, a balance has to be created: An executive must determine what tasks

Permanent Recruitment Manager www.trenkwalder.hu

Recruitment and selection will always be a function that affects the entire organization and even company results. Finding a candidate to fill a vacancy is the fundamental aim of any recruitment activity, whilst the pursuit of talents requires more effort, but is worth doing. Partly because employee input can be valuable in creating more efficient work methods and improving productivity, a smooth and well-structured selection procedure will definitely enhance company reputation.

Any company with a strategic focus on expansion will face the requirement of improving its reputation, and if it is to be taken seriously, lots of money and human resources must be invested in employer branding. However, the return on this investment may be lower than expected without the real acknowledgment of the company’s values. Nowadays, several companies are facing recruitment ramp-up periods at the same time as at least some of their competitors are looking for candidates with the same profile. There is a fight for talent; but what makes candidates choose a company as a future employer?

Upon closer examination, it is ‘candidate experience’ which mostly helps potential newcomers to decide which job to take. Another factor is the information available on the internet, no matter how credible the content. And these two elements strongly influence/enhance each other.

More women at work As gender diversity grows at the office, work-life balance can be expected to be a growing concern in Hungarian workplaces. This is because a disproportionate share of parenting duties often fall on women, so they may be the most challenged by WLB concerns – and the proportion of women in the workplace is growing here.

The employment rate among women grew by 3.3% in Hungary in 2014, the highest rate in the EU, according to Budapesti Vállalkozásfejlesztési Közalapítvány (Budapest Enterprise Agency or BVK), online news portal vg.hu reported in April.

The employment rate is currently 55.9% among the 15-64-year-old female population. The growth rate would be 2.6% if the fostered worker program participants were excluded from the statistics, BVK told MTI. Fostered workers are hired by the government and make less than minimum wage.

are not important enough to expend too much time and effort on, as well as what tasks can be completed equally well by other people. The real goal is not to understand the issue but to thrust people out of their routines.

“One of my clients only realized the perks of having two cell phones after his divorce,” Komócsin said. “Now he owns one personal cell phone and one business one. He leaves the second one in the office on weekends.”

A strategic approach to employer branding requires a strategic perspective of how the company will attract, engage and retain talent. If recruitment is regarded as no more than another one of the business procedures, and is implemented with a lack of consistency, it is likely to adversely affect the company’s reputation. This is partly because people share their thoughts about job searches via the internet, which offers them many websites and channels to talk about career related topics. People tend to take any information available on the internet as granted, which is risky for the companies.

Type of web page

Description

Job and career portals

Official sites to provide job advertisements, career advice, CV templates and labor market news

Social media

Online platforms dedicated to informal social interaction where job-related information is also available and moderately controlled

Employer rating pages

(Mainly) official sites and online forums where (ex-)employees can anonymously review and rate companies and their management

(Private) blogs and forums

Online journal and discussion sites where people can hold conversations about their candidate and/or employee experience

Companies must definitely do far more to protect and enhance their reputation than ever, since the content found in the above sites can easily shape public opinion. Consequently, the whole on-boarding and selection procedure must be carefully analyzed to discover any bottlenecks that may result in reputational risk and the loss of talents.

The following characteristics of recruitment procedures can be considered as the top five key factors to gaining a good reputation. Their importance should never be underestimated.

Characteristics of selection procedure

Business risk

Candidate experience – what candidate might think or feel?

1. Long recruitment procedure (more than three weeks)

Delay in hiring real talents

Company is not interested in hiring and decision making process is slow

2. Many interview sessions (more than three rounds)

Losing talents Reflecting general mistrust within the company

Decision making is slow and bureaucratic

3. Complicated/time-consuming recruitment methods

Lot of effort needs to be invested, high costs Losing talents

Too much energy and time invested before an offer is made, feeling frustrated

4. No feedback/slow or inadequate flow of information

Serious reputational risk since candidates will not recommend the company to others

Feeling unimportant in the eyes of the company Low performance at interview

5. Unfavorable atmosphere

Showing the image of a bad employer

Lack of intention to carry on with interviews Feeling humiliated

As a result of evaluating the top five factors, management can be made aware of what the talents they need think of the company and its selection procedure. It is also recommended to implement a survey among all candidates who would fit the company profile, since they feel no pressure to give favorable answers, whilst representing the opinion of those people who are really valuable for the company.

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‘No’ and other answers to the problem

Zita Polgár

The most powerful way of Employer branding

ANDRÁS ZSÁMBOKI

Imagine how easy life would be if your family and your boss were always happy with you. Unfortunately, achieving this goal is not easy. Work−life balance (WLB) is an omnipresent problem in all areas, according to business coaches interviewed by the Budapest Business Journal. They said the solution lies in time management, and being able to let go.

“Earlier, it mostly used to be a problem for female executives. The work brought home from the office could only be done at the expense of taking care of the family,” says Klára Lapu, Senior Trainer and Coach of Flow Consulting. “Today it is a problem for everyone; especially for people who are just starting a family.”

The one group for whom the problem seems to be less of a concern is top management, Lapu says. “By the time someone reaches the position of CEO, the conflict between career and family is most probably solved already,” she explains.

“At the level of middle management, however, it is a serious problem. Mid−level executives find it much more difficult to balance their work time, partly because of having fewer financial resources for the possible solutions.”

EXPERT OPINION

TRENKWALDER KFT.

Business coaches say that everyone is feeling the crush of trying to please everyone. Helping busy executives achieve an improved work−life balance has become an important part of coaching.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

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Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

EXPERT OPINION

HOW MUCH THEY MAKE:

Hays Hungary issues new Salary Guide Tammy Nagy-Stellini Managing Director HAYS HUNGARY

NOTE: ALL ARTICLES MARKED EXPERT OPINION ARE PAID PROMOTIONAL CONTENT FOR WHICH THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL DOES NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

Hays Hungary, the leading specialist recruiter, has issued its 2015 Salary Guide and Market Overview. Managing Director Tammy Nagy-Stellini provides a sector-by-sector breakdown of the key findings.

BUSINESS SERVICES Hungary is still one of the most attractive locations for newly established SSCs. In the case of existing SSCs the number of more complex roles are increasing while in some cases some transactional functions are taken over by other countries. We predict continuous demand for French, German speaking and trilingual candidates and a high number of openings in the financial sector in 2015. A competitive advantage can be gained by ensuring a smooth, flexible hiring process and applying innovative recruitment solutions.

IT This year again we can expect serious demand for talented and experienced software developers in the domestic market.

As a result of the increasing entrepreneurship, the start-up sector keeps getting stronger.

Enthusiastic developers, willing to take risks for new and innovative ideas are becoming more popular. Besides development, the importance of cloud-based technologies continues to stand out, which is referred to as the most cost-effective solution in the IT market. The changes in IT security trends have also had a strong impact on the market and we can expect the demand for experts with relevant knowledge or qualifications to grow further in 2015.

LIFE SCIENCES We experienced more activity in the pharmaceutical labour market in terms of the number of recruitment projects undertaken compared year-on-year. Demand for pharmaceutical and medical device sales professionals has increased, despite special taxes and regulations affecting the industry. In the field of regulatory and drug safety outsourcing still remains the leading trend at a global level. These service delivery centres offer various entry-level positions for junior and/or fresh graduate applicants with life science degrees who would like to pursue a pharmaceutical career. As a result of outsourcing clinical trials the demand for clinical research professionals is increasing on the CRO side, while clinical research departments of pharmaceutical companies showed a decline.

ENGINEERING The automotive industry is still the key sector in this field. Many factories are expanding and there are currently some significant greenfield investment projects running in Hungary.

While for Hungarian companies the biggest challenge is to retain employees, multinational competitors face difficulties with their headcount expansion. There is huge market demand for experts in the fields of process development and experts of Continuous Improvement (Lean or Six Sigma). Employers within the market are increasingly interested in professionals with automation knowledge and for a growing number of companies programming is a basic requirement, even for mechanical engineers. There is also a great demand for technical project managers; this is because of the continuously growing number of development and manufacturing projects running in or managed from Hungary.

ACCOUNTANCY AND FINANCE Due to the challenging time of the financial sector, the banking and insurance companies can hardly stabilize their human resources. In the crucial specialisms (risk, restructuring, sales and product development), there is a high demand for expertise and well qualified people.

Employers who don’t focus on retention can face difficulties due to the notable demand for candidates in these areas. However thanks to the slight improvement in the economy, we can see more job opportunities mainly at experienced level.

SALES AND MARKETING This year we have seen a lot of interest in technical sales areas. We were pleased to see, that many companies were expanding their sales teams - in some cases international expansion was also observed.

In the field of marketing, we have seen a growing recruitment for online, digital and e-commerce managers which underlines the trend, that multinational companies have also experienced the necessity of digital devices in addition to traditional marketing tools.

Hays Hungary conducts annual salary guides. The report presents the minimum, maximum and average gross monthly salaries in HUF for the most typical fulltime positions in various sector. The data is taken from hundreds of recruitment projects run by Hays Hungary’s experts nationwide for our multinational and SME private sector clients in 2014.

To request your free copy or for more information on salary trends, call +36 1 501 2400 or email hungary@hays.hu.

www.hays.hu

Pay levels at Hungarian SSCs The salaries on this page are for employees in the business services sector – employees who work at shared service center (SSC). This data is drawn from the Hays Salary Guide and Market Overview 2015.

Hays compiled the data based on hundreds of recruitment projects conducted by the company in 2014.

ACCOUNTANCY & FINANCE: Gross monthly salary in HUF at SSC ROLE

0-2 years experience

3-5 years experience

AP Clerk

270 000-350 000

350 000-420 000

AR Clerk

270 000-350 000

350 000-450 000

Credit & Collection Specialist

270 000-350 000

350 000-450 000

GL Accountant

280 000-400 000

450 000-650 000

AP Team Leader

n/a

450 000-600 000

AR Team Leader

n/a

450 000-650 000

Credit & Collection Team Leader

n/a

450 000-650 000

GL Team Leader

n/a

600 000- 800 000

AP Manager

n/a

800 000-1 100 000

AR Manager

n/a

800 000-1 100 000

GL Manager

n/a

900 000-1 300 000

Finance Operations Manager

n/a

1 000 000- 1 500 000

IT HELP DESK: Gross monthly salary in HUF at SSC ROLE

0-2 years experience

3-5 years experience

1st level IT help desk

300 000-360 000

360 000-420 000

2nd level IT help desk

n/a in case of 2 years of experience – 360 000

360 000-460 000

Team Leader

n/a

550 000-750 000

Quality Manager

n/a

500 000-700 000

Incident Manager

n/a

500 000-700 000

Service Delivery Manager

n/a

800 000-1 200 000

Service Desk Operations Manager

n/a

1 000 000-1 500 000

HR: Gross monthly salary in HUF at SSC ROLE

0-2 years experience

3-5 years experience

HR Operations Support

280 000-370 000

370 000-450 000

Learning & Development Specialist

280 000-370 000

370 000-450 000

HR Payroll Specialist

300 000-380 000

380 000-480 000

Compensation and Benefit Specialist

300 000-380 000

400 000-550 000

Team leader

n/a

550 000-650 000

HR Operations Manager

n/a

800 000-1 200 000

MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS: Gross monthly salary in HUF at SSC ROLE

0-2 years experience

3-5 years experience

Operations Director/ Head of SSC

1 000 000-1 500 000

1 500 000-2 000 000

SSC Finance Manager

1 000 000-1 200 000

1 300 000-2 000 000

Project Manager

900 000-1 200 000

1 000 000-1 500 000

Transition Manager

800 000-1 000 000

1 000 000-1 300 000

Training Manager

600 000-800 000

800 000- 1000 000

HR Manager

800 000-1 000 000

1 000 000 -1 500 000

SOURCE: Hays Salary Guide and Market Overview 2015

WWW.BBJ.HU

3

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

23

Photo: Gábor Bodó

HR IMPLICATIONS OF THE LIABILITY OF EXECUTIVES

Panelists discussing staffing issues are, from left: Moderator Márta Szűcs, PwC partner; Sándor Baja, CEO Randstad Hungary; Viktor Lénárt, CEO of the training and development company Grow Group; and László Ábrahám, CEO of National Instruments Hungary.

Call for more university funds Recruitment specialist says Hungary needs to improve education in fields that matter.

ROBIN MARSHALL

Hungary should reintroduce state−funded university education in subjects that will prove useful in the workplace, according to Sándor Baja, CEO of recruitment specialists Randstad Hungary.

He was speaking on a panel on HR challenges facing the national economy as part of a March conference showcasing the results of the fourth annual PwC CEO survey in Hungary.

This year’s survey noted a marked increase among Hungarian CEOs of fears that a lack of suitably qualified and adaptable workers would harm growth: In 2014 48% thought it a threat, in 2015 the figure had risen to 68%, placing it second, behind the need for an internationally competitive and efficient tax system.

With the title “Professionals: The pool is limited...” the panel looked at the twin threats of finding suitable candidates on the one hand, and retaining key staff on the other.

Part of the challenge in finding a suitably qualified workforce stems from the brain drain. PwC partner Márta Szűcs, who moderated the discussion, noted in her introductory remarks that 38% of those leaving the country are graduates.

Baja said the equivalent of the population of Vác – approximately 35,000 according to Wikipedia – “disappears every year”. And the reasons were obvious, he said, citing just one example: Germany is looking to hire forklift truck operators for €15,000 a month, five times what they can earn in Hungary. But that is not the only challenge when it comes to keeping talent in the country.

“When a fresh graduate tells me he is going to Denmark to do his MBA because there it is free, what chance do you think there is that he will come back?” Baja asked. “I really respect those companies [such as Audi and Mercedes] going into dual training and supporting education in this country; that is super. But state−funded places in university should again be made available. And not in psychology, but in subjects that are needed!”

The government has cut back markedly on the number of state−funded places since 2010. Among those university seats it still pays for, more places go to fields such as engineering than to subjects like law or economics.

Baja was also critical of the way language, specifically English, is taught in ordinary state schools. “‥.[If children] start learning English from grade 12−14 [sic], how many will have useable English by matriculation without also having private lessons? Zero percent.”

László Ábrahám, CEO of the local subsidiary of U.S.−owned electronic manufacturing company National Instruments, is based in Hungary’s second city, Debrecen. “If this [qualified workforce] problem is one unit in the capital, then it is three units in Debrecen; we need more carrots on each stick to attract people,” he said. His company is actively involved in local education, pushing engineering as an interesting career from kindergarten level onward, using Lego initially but working up to robot building courses.

It supports mentoring programs in 50 local schools (aimed at teachers as much as students, to avoid the teachers of the past who “just scare kids away from the natural sciences”.) Recognizing how cash−poor some provincial schools can be, NI is supplying equipment as well as expertise. “We also provide schools and kindergartens with tools and devices. [‥.]

We know schools have to fight for chalk, have to fight for paper, let alone devices.”

Viktor Lénárt, CEO of the training and development company Grow Group said there were two major challenges for companies in Hungary: Finding talent, and keeping key staff. In his experience few leaders proved to be good “scanners”, able to predict which of their key people might be thinking of leaving, or about to do so.

“It is important to focus on them because it can be very difficult and expensive to replace them,” he warned.

All three agreed that making life more varied, involving these key experts in decision making aspects of the business, setting them interesting challenges, and offering new tools were all important aspects. Churn or turnover among talent is, to some extent, to be expected, they said. Generations Y and Z tend to be much less wedded to the idea of working for one company for their whole career, and much more likely to move on if a competitor offers more money or more interesting work.

Labor and Employment expert at Squire Patton Boggs

The regulations on the liability of executives (members of the board of directors, managing directors, company managers) provided by Act V of 2013 on the new Civil Code that have been effective since 15 March 2014 (“Civil Code”) triggered significant media attention recently. Articles discussed the new regulations and liability structures since the Civil Code became effective. This article addresses implications of the liability rules that could create challenges in relation to selection or retention of executives.

One of the frequently discussed new regulations of the Civil Code was the liability rules applicable to executives for damages caused to third parties. The former rules established liability for the company. Third parties could claim compensation from the company and it was the company’s discretion to claim those cost from the executive. That was a fairly safe structure for executives.

Under the current regulations executives are jointly and severally liable for damages caused to third parties. That means a third party may claim compensation for damages suffered from the company, the company and the executive(s) jointly, or the executive(s) only.

The practical interpretation of the above regulation is not yet supported by court practice, therefore it is uncertain what is the exact scope of the liability. The changed liability rules and potential risk they create – not surprisingly – raised concerns among executives.

Means of Addressing and Mitigating the Liability In practice the following options are available to companies and executives to address and mitigate the liability of the executives:

• Limitation of liability in contracts.

• Insurance for executives that covers the liability, including legal fees. (Though in lack of established court practice it is hard to clearly define the scope of coverage and insured event.)

• Proper company corporate governance policies that clearly define scopes of liability and clear operational structure corresponding that.

• Release granted by the founder/owners.

• Indemnity infrastructure (or “mother company contracts”) to compensate and provide support to executives in case of third party claims, that clearly defines the scope of coverage, the applicable process, identifies the available resources and is able to effectively address the challenges the executive could be exposed to. (However some risk cannot be excluded: as mentioned above, third parties may initiate litigation against an executive, which could last until the legally binding court decision resulting in regular court hearings and significant legal fees.)

The combination of the above means upon a careful risk assessment and by tailoring the available means to the company’s risk profile could create a liability infrastructure for most of the companies.

Challenge for HR When selecting or recruiting candidates for an executive position the implemented means of mitigating or addressing the liability of executives could be a significant factor that makes the position attractive. In practice: candidates coming from a company culture with sophisticated liability infrastructure are not necessarily willing to accept less security in their would be position or that should be duly compensated. On the other way, not properly regulated liability structure or the total lack of means of addressing or mitigating the liability could make candidates to consider it as a risk factor or existing executives to resign or even terminate employment.

In addition the lack of means of addressing or mitigating the liability is certainly a risk factor being a clear conflict of interest between the company and the executive that could create tension in everyday operation and decision making.

Therefore the proper, transparent and effective liability infrastructure – with all the required resources - is not only a challenge for legal but significantly affects the HR operation and could be a competitive advantage for the company when selecting executives or retaining existing ones.

Zsolt Fabian Partner, Corporate T +36 14 287 145 E zsolt.fabian@squirepb.com squirepattonboggs.com

WWW.BBJ.HU

24 3

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

Temp agencies

90

10

75

25

»

»

»

»

»

»

3,570 80

11,900 12,120

10,047

90

10

75

25

»

»

»

»

»

»

YEAR ESTABLISHED NO. OF OFFICES IN HUNGARY WORLDWIDE

OWNERSHIP (%) HUNGARIAN NON-HUNGARIAN

5

1995 25 300

Tamás Szabó (10) Trenkwalder International AG (90)

Tamás Fehér $WWLOD *\ŃU\ Nóra Medve

1132 Budapest, Váci út 22–24.

(1) 354-0933 (1) 302-7589 infohungary@trenkwalder.com

»

»

2004 14 93

Profólió Projekt Tanácsadó Kft. (25) Work Service S.A. (75)

Béla Ignácz, Csongor Juhász, Sándor Zakor, Wojciech Mora Péter Koncz –

1146 Budapest, Hungária körút 140-144.

(1) 432-1280 (1) 432-1281 prohuman@prohuman.hu

»

»

1991 11 5,100

– Adecco SA (100)

Ottó Vég $QLNy 7|UŃFVLN –

1134 Budapest, Váci út 45.

(1) 323-3500 (1) 323-3529 adecco@adecco.hu

»

1990 1 1

Grosvenor Kft. (46.50), Márton Gáll (17.50), Péter Surján (13), Horváth Gábor (11.50), Csaba Sándor (11.50) –

Géza Homonnay Balázs Címer –

1114 Budapest, Bartók Béla út 15/D (1) 372-0692 (1) 372-0693 recepcio@gamax.hu

Róbert Csákvári (100) –

Róbert Csákvári – –

1065 Budapest, Benczúr utca 15.

(1) 354-3434 (1) 354-3436 titkarsag@work-force.hu

OTHER

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE CFO MARKETING DIRECTOR

LEGAL

INDUSTRIAL

SALES AND MARKETING

IT

TECHNICAL

FINANCE

BREAKDOWN OF TEMPS SUPPLIED

BY SECTOR IN 2014 (%)

CLERICAL WORK

WHITE-COLLAR

14,012 10,679,246

BLUE-COLLAR

17,760 18,177

PERMANENT

5,551 156

TEMPORARY

24,690 25,385

HOUR BILLED IN 2014

6,953 166

TOTAL NUMBER OF TEMPORARY WORKFORCE IN 2014

TOTAL NET REVENUE FROM TEMPORARY PLACEMENT IN 2014 (HUF MLN) TOTAL NET REVENUE IN 2014 (HUF MLN)

COMPANY WEBSITE

BREAKBREAKDOWN OF DOWN OF PLACETYPE OF MENT WORK IN DURATION 2014 (%) IN 2014 (%)

AVERAGE STATISTICAL HEADCOUNT IN 2014 NO. OF FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES ON MARCH 1, 2015

RANK

Ranked by average statistical headcount in 2014

TRENKWALDER KFT. www.trenkwalder.hu 1

9,207

14,614,953

90

10

65

35

15

4

8

1

2

65

–

PROHUMÁN 2004 KFT. www.prohuman.hu 2

ADDRESS PHONE FAX EMAIL

ADECCO KFT. www.adecco.hu 3

4

GAMAX KFT. www.gamax.hu

5,683,276

3,100 202

8,830 14,213

2,107 57

5,895 5,979

5,829

4,192,095

»

»

1,921 106

6,631 6,973

4,915

4,017,032

39

61

1,485

5,205 5,412

5,596

5,483,595

–

100

85

15

»

»

»

»

»

»

»

WORK FORCE SZEMÉLYZETI TANÁCSADÓ ÉS SZOLGÁLTATÓ KFT. www.workforce.hu 5

PANNONJOB HUMÁN SZOLGÁLTATÓ ÉS TANÁCSADÓ KFT. 6

www.pannonjob.hu

80.50 19.50

63

37

25

8

–

2

–

65

–

–

2004 8 8

3

2

–

11

5

59

–

20

1993 7 7

Videoton Holding Zrt. (100) –

Fatime Touré, Attila Molnár Anikó Bánhidi Édua Hajdu

8000 Székesfehérvár, Berényi út 72–100.

(22) 554-190 (22) 554-191 info@pannonjob.hu

5

1990 5 6

Zoltán Tóth (60), Péter Berta (30), Viktor Göltl (10) –

Péter Berta – –

8900 Zalaegerszeg, Ady Endre utca 2.

(92) 550-050 (92) 550-060 whc@whc.hu

WHC KFT. www.whc.hu 7

»

3,211

3,100,680

40

60

85

15

3

1

13

–

NEMZETKÖZI TERÜLETEKRE LÉPTÜNK! G>FS>MD¥SB FNGD:>Kł&D¥SO>MÝM¡L u ;>E?¥E=B FNGD:>Kł&D¥E<L¥GS¡L ¡L &D¥SO>MÝM¡L <:?>M>KB: LSHE@ EM:M LHD u ;¡KLS F?>CM¡L HNMLHNK<BG@ u =B DFNGD: u AK M:G <L:= L

: PHKD L>KOB<> <LHIHKM M:@C:D¡GM ¦@R?>E>BGD>M F K *+ HKLS @ FNGD:>KłIB:< G M>LLS¦D >E¡@>=>MM¡' E^g`r^ehkls§`% Hkhlshkls§`% G®f^mhkls§`% <l^ahkls§`% Lseho§dbZ% NdkZcgZ% Khf§gbZ% Mºkºdhkls§`% FZ`rZkhkls§`% ;^e`bnf% ?kZg\bZhkls§`% GZ`r&;kbmZggbZ

3

75

–

WWW.BBJ.HU

TOTAL NET REVENUE FROM TEMPORARY PLACEMENT IN 2014 (HUF MLN) TOTAL NET REVENUE IN 2014 (HUF MLN)

TOTAL NUMBER OF TEMPORARY WORKFORCE IN 2014

HOUR BILLED IN 2014

» »

2,777

2,530,000

1,280 4

4,214 4,249

923 126

2,520 2,543

3,091

1,646,898

–

100

84

16

»

»

»

»

»

»

www.humancentrum.hu

855 45

2,560 2,620

2,425

1,750,000

75

25

65

35

15

5

12

3

6

58

352),(/' 081.$(5ł 12 .g/&6g1=ł .)7

851 23

2,674 2,707

»

»

40

60

62

38

»

»

»

»

»

»

807 26

1,410 1,939

2,034

»

»

»

98

2

1.8

–

–

–

–

–

716 27

1,678 1,775

4,303

1,214,777

50

50

85

15

15

–

–

–

–

73

–

12

640 50

1,898 2,336

2,061

1,140,028

80

20

80

20

22

12

5

1

15

–

–

45

540 45

2,670 2,800

2,028

940,800

50

50

70

30

»

»

»

»

»

»

»

»

2,976,800

»

Grosvenor Kft. (100) –

Géza Homonnay Arnold Bozi, László Várdai Imre Molnár László Várdai

1114 Budapest, Bartók Béla út 15/D (1) 372-0692 (1) 372-0693 pannonwork@ pannonwork.hu

–

1

1993 16 16

(100) –

Tibor Urbán – –

1075 Budapest, Holló utca 2.

(1) 877-0900 (1) 877-0910 info@humancentrum.hu

»

»

2010 1 1

Imre Horváth (100) –

István Bojó – –

1214 Budapest, Mag utca 3.

(1) 789-6538 (1) 799-0926 LQIR#SURÀ HOGNROFVRQ]R KX

–

98.2

2004 9 9

Sales Brand Consulting Kft. (100) –

László Küzmös Patrícia Mártai –

1023 Budapest, Árpád fejedelem útja 31.

(1) 766-5626 (1) 766-5618 getwork@getwork.hu

László Mátyás (80), Imre Papp (10), Erika Dékány (10) –

László Mátyás, Imre Papp Erika Dékány –

4024 Debrecen, Batthyány utca 12/1.

(52) 316-242 (52) 530-965 job@hsakft.hu

Anikó Jónás Zsolt Szabó Szilvia Varga

1062 Budapest, Aradi utca 8–10.

(1) 301-7800 (1) 301-7880 info@kellyservices.hu

László Dalányi Ákos Vidovics Katalin Szekeres

1133 Budapest, Váci út 76.

(1) 411-1590 (1) 266-0536 manpower@manpower.hu

OTHER

»

2004 15 16

LEGAL

8272 Óbudavár, )Ń XWFD (88) 400-453 (88) 400-453 veszprem@manatwork.hu

INDUSTRIAL

Csaba Ottó Orsolya Horvai Módné Attila Gazsi

SALES AND MARKETING

Volano Kft. (100) –

IT

–

1998 7 7

TECHNICAL

1104 Budapest, Harmat utca 152.

(1) 888-9200 (1) 888-9206 ceginfo@workwayclub.hu

FINANCE

József Sólyom =VROW łU\ –

CLERICAL WORK

OWNERSHIP (%) HUNGARIAN NON-HUNGARIAN

3,350

YEAR ESTABLISHED NO. OF OFFICES IN HUNGARY WORLDWIDE

www.manatwork.hu

NetworX System Kft. (100) –

WHITE-COLLAR

9

MAN AT WORK KFT.

www.workwayclub.hu

2009 2 2

BLUE-COLLAR

WORK WAY CLUB KFT.

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE CFO MARKETING DIRECTOR

PERMANENT

8

BREAKDOWN OF TEMPS SUPPLIED

BY SECTOR IN 2014 (%)

TEMPORARY

RANK

AVERAGE STATISTICAL HEADCOUNT IN 2014 NO. OF FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES ON MARCH 1, 2015

BREAKBREAKDOWN OF DOWN OF PLACETYPE OF MENT WORK IN DURATION 2014 (%) IN 2014 (%)

1,377 47

COMPANY WEBSITE

25

3

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

20

80

88

12

4

1

4

1

4

58

–

28

75

25

85

15

13

1

1

–

–

85

–

ADDRESS PHONE FAX EMAIL

PANNON-WORK ZRT. www.pannonwork.hu

10

11

HUMÁN CENTRUM KFT.

ZZZ SURÀ HOGNROFVRQ]R KX

GET WORK TREND KFT. www.getwork.hu

13

HSA KFT. www.hsakft.hu 14

KELLY SERVICES 15 HUNGARY KFT. www.kellyservices.hu

16

MANPOWER KFT. www.manpower.hu

2000 10

»

2014 – Kelly Services Inc. 1 (96.70), Kelly 3,000 (approx.) Properties LLC (3.30)

1990 5 3,100

– Manpower France Holding SAS (100)

WWW.BBJ.HU

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Âť

Âť

Âť

Âť

EU-JOBS KFT.

383

Âť

1,053 1,691

Âť

Âť

Âť

Âť

Âť

Âť

46

12

12

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

12

16

1

1

2005 1 1

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ZoltĂĄn Pataki â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Melinda Gyovai

1137 Budapest, Katona JĂłzsef utca 15.

(1) 225-7313 (1) 700-2554 eucsoport@eucsoport.hu

380 33

508 521

498

301,186

60

40

52

48

45

5

10

5

20

5

5

5

2001 5 15

Individuals (84.93) Starjobs Ltd. (10), Enersense (5.07)

PĂŠter Megyeri *\XOD 6HUIĹ&#x192;]Ĺ&#x192; ZoltĂĄn Kott

1093 Budapest, Czuczor utca 10.

(1) 456-0700 (1) 217-8606 info@starjobs.hu

337 354

1,211 1,264

812

395,088

25

75

65

35

10

1

9

8

3

65

1

3

2010 8 8

Csilla VidĂł (100) â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

Csilla VidĂł AnnamĂĄria Ury â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

2500 Esztergom, JĂłkai MĂłr utca 8.

(1) 878-0145 (1) 878-0160 info@hrcv.hu

310 10

630 675

750

486,217

85

15

50

50

65

5

2

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

2

5

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

21

2005 3 180

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DEKRA Arbeit GmbH (100)

Marianna MajtĂŠnyi â&#x20AC;&#x201C; GĂĄbor Behina

1051 Budapest, JĂłzsef nĂĄdor tĂŠr 9.

(1) 461-9080 (1) 461-9089 budapest@dekra-arbeit.hu

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

2005 21 21

Floridita SzolgĂĄltatĂł ĂŠs TanĂĄcsadĂł Kft. (50), Milagroso Gerifalte SzolgĂĄltatĂł ĂŠs TanĂĄcsadĂł Kft. (50) â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

Tibor TĂłth PĂŠter Vida DĂĄniel Fatuska

2724 Ă&#x161;jlengyel, Ady Endre utca 11.

(29) 385-085 (82) 423-104 info@munka-ero.hu

PĂŠter Vida (14.30), ZoltĂĄn Egerszegi (32), Erika PintĂŠr (32), Via PannĂłnia Kft (17.70), GĂĄbor Csizmadia (4) â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

PĂŠter Vida, GĂĄbor Csizmadia LĂĄszlĂł PintĂŠr Bence Husi

7400 KaposvĂĄr, 48-as ifjĂşsĂĄg Ăştja 42.

(82) 512-112 (82) 312-570 info@dologido.hu

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Randstad Holding N.V. (100)

SĂĄndor Baja LĂ­via TĂłth 3pWHU 9pJVĹ&#x192;

1024 Budapest, /|YĹ&#x192;Ki] XWFD (1) 411-2090 (1) 411-2091 info@randstad.hu

www.eujobs.hu

OTHER

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LEGAL

Âť

INDUSTRIAL

Âť

SALES AND MARKETING

Âť

IT

Âť

TECHNICAL

Âť

FINANCE

Âť

CLERICAL WORK

Âť

WHITE-COLLAR

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BLUE-COLLAR

3,692

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PERMANENT

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TEMPORARY

www.humaniahrsgroup.hu

2001 19 19

HOUR BILLED IN 2014

OWNERSHIP (%) HUNGARIAN NON-HUNGARIAN

BREAKDOWN OF TEMPS SUPPLIED

BY SECTOR IN 2014 (%)

YEAR ESTABLISHED NO. OF OFFICES IN HUNGARY WORLDWIDE

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TOTAL NUMBER OF TEMPORARY WORKFORCE IN 2014

515

BREAKBREAKDOWN OF DOWN OF PLACETYPE OF MENT WORK IN DURATION 2014 (%) IN 2014 (%)

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE CFO MARKETING DIRECTOR

COMPANY WEBSITE

HUMĂ NIA HRS GROUP 17 ZRT.

18

TOTAL NET REVENUE FROM TEMPORARY PLACEMENT IN 2014 (HUF MLN) TOTAL NET REVENUE IN 2014 (HUF MLN)

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; April 23, 2015

AVERAGE STATISTICAL HEADCOUNT IN 2014 NO. OF FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES ON MARCH 1, 2015

RANK

26 3

STARJOBS MAGYARORSZĂ G HUMĂ NSZOLGĂ LTATĂ&#x201C; KFT. www.starjobs.hu 19

HRCV SZEMĂ&#x2030;LYZETI 20 SZOLGĂ LTATĂ&#x201C; KFT. www.hrcgroup.hu

DEKRA ARBEIT 21 MAGYARORSZĂ G KFT. www.dekra-arbeit.hu

081.$ (5Ĺ&#x201A; .g/&6g1=Ĺ&#x201A; e6 .g=9(7Ă&#x152;7Ĺ&#x201A; .)7 22

www.munka-ero.hu

247 27

478 490

1,087

425,255

78

22

93

7

8

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

59

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

33

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

ADDRESS PHONE FAX EMAIL

1118 Budapest, (OĹ&#x192;SDWDN XWFD (1) 248-2010 (1) 248-2016 info@humaniahrsgroup.hu

'2/2*,'Ĺ&#x201A; .)7 www.dologido.hu

23

m u n k a e rĹ&#x2018; k Ăśz ve t Ă­ tĹ&#x2018;

RANDSTAD HUNGARY KFT. 24 www.randstad.hu

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227 15

591 615

1,334

458,064

95

5

95

5

3

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

2

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

95

2001 12 12

215 437

551 1,854

421

187,021

55

45

15

85

12

8

2

5

23

13

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

37

2004 3 4,400

WWW.BBJ.HU

459

310,360

70

30

95

5

5

–

–

–

–

95

92 20

270 400

»

175,765

10

90

87

13

6

4

7

5

2

16 9

25 149

13

7,166

55

45

–

100

70

15

–

15

»

»

»

»

5

95

–

100

15

40

10

20

82

–

11

20

3

61

Attila Dobár György Thury –

1094 Budapest, Angyal utca 24.

(1) 239-9922 (1) 239-9926 info@job.hu

–

–

2012 4 4

Roland Varga (60), 3pWHU 7ŃNpV

–

3pWHU 7ŃNpV – –

8272 Óbudavár, )Ń XWFD (87) 655-284 (87) 655-284 info@szemelyzet.hu

65

–

11

2002 1 1

Péter Tokár (97), Tamás Tokár (3) –

Péter Tokár Renáta Horváth Ferenc Keresztúri

1132 Budapest, Váci út 18.

(1) 279-0707 (1) 466-0549 recepcio@tesk.hu

–

–

–

–

1997 1 1

Individuals (100) –

Tímea Bíró – –

1092 Budapest, Ráday utca 51.

(1) 336-2910 (1) 336-2911 info@focusconsulting.hu

5

–

–

10

2007 1 239

– Hays Plc. (100)

Tammy Nagy-Stellini Péter Jerkovich Zsuzsa Krizbai-Orbán

1054 Budapest, Szabadság tér 7.

(1) 501-2400 (1) 501-2402 hungary@hays.hu

4

–

–

OTHER

László Hadi (53.90), Botond Csordás (30), Attila Dobár (16.10) –

LEGAL

1

1992 2 2

INDUSTRIAL

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE CFO MARKETING DIRECTOR

SALES AND MARKETING

IT

TECHNICAL

FINANCE

CLERICAL WORK

WHITE-COLLAR 100

OWNERSHIP (%) HUNGARIAN NON-HUNGARIAN

18

BREAKDOWN OF TEMPS SUPPLIED

BY SECTOR IN 2014 (%)

YEAR ESTABLISHED NO. OF OFFICES IN HUNGARY WORLDWIDE

–

270,112

BLUE-COLLAR

543 543

6=(0e/<=(7 .g/&6g1=ł 26 e6 .g=9(7Ì7ł .)7

357

PERMANENT

165 1

www.jobgroup.hu

TEMPORARY

1,130 1,214

HOUR BILLED IN 2014

209 19

JOB SZEMÉLYZETI 25 TANÁCSADÓ KFT.

TOTAL NUMBER OF TEMPORARY WORKFORCE IN 2014

TOTAL NET REVENUE FROM TEMPORARY PLACEMENT IN 2014 (HUF MLN) TOTAL NET REVENUE IN 2014 (HUF MLN)

BREAKBREAKDOWN OF DOWN OF PLACETYPE OF MENT WORK IN DURATION 2014 (%) IN 2014 (%)

AVERAGE STATISTICAL HEADCOUNT IN 2014 NO. OF FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES ON MARCH 1, 2015

RANK

COMPANY WEBSITE

27

3

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

ADDRESS PHONE FAX EMAIL

TESK TANÁCSADÓ KFT. www.tesk.hu

27

28

FOCUS CONSULTING KFT. www.focusconsulting.hu

HAYS HUNGARY KFT. www.hays.hu NR

50

639(1)

NOTES: (1) Data of business year July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014.

HOW MUCH THEY MAKE:

ENGINEERS: Gross monthly salary in HUF MIN

Typical Hungarian salaries MAX

TYPICAL

JUNIOR ENGINEER 1+ YEAR EXPERIENCE

IT: Gross monthly salary in HUF MIN

MAX

TYPICAL

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT Junior Software Developer

290 000

420 000

380 000

Software Developer (3+ years’ experience)

450 000

650 000

550 000

Production

270 000

380 000

330 000

Quality

300 000

400 000

350 000

Maintenance

300 000

350 000

320 000

R&D

300 000

400 000

350 000

Project engineering

300 000

380 000

350 000

Service engineering

260 000

330 000

320 000

Expert in specific technology

300 000

400 000

350 000

Senior software Developer

600 000

800 000

700 000

SENIOR ENGINEER 3+ YEARS’ EXPERIENCE

Development Lead

750 000

1 300 000

950 000

Production

350 000

650 000

450 000

Quality

400 000

550 000

450 000

SOFTWARE TESTING Junior Software Tester

250 000

400 000

300 000

Maintenance

350 000

500 000

440 000

380 000

550 000

450 000

Software tester

400 000

550 000

500 000

R&D

Senior software tester

600 000

750 000

650 000

Project engineering

450 000

600 000

500 000

Test Lead, Test Manager

750 000

1 000 000

800 000

Service engineering

300 000

500 000

450 000

Expert in specific technology

400 000

600 000

500 000

Infrastructure Network Engineer

550 000

700 000

600 000

System Engineer

500 000

700 000

650 000

OTHER

10+ YEARS’ EXPERIENCE, TOP TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT Production

900 000

2 000 000

1 500 000

Quality

800 000

1 500 000

1 300 000

Maintenance

900 000

1 400 000

1 000 000

Database Developer (Oracle, PLSQL) (Mid to Senior)

550 000

850 000

650 000

Security Expert (Mid to Senior)

550 000

1 100 000

900 000

R&D

900 000

1 500 000

1 300 000

900 000

1 800 000

1 300 000

System Administrator

400 000

600 000

500 000

Project engineering

Business Analyst (Junior)

350 000

500 000

450 000

Service engineering

750 000

1 400 000

1 000 000

Business Analyst (Senior)

700 000

1 000 000

900 000

Expert in specific technology

800 000

2 000 000

1 500 000

SAP Consultant

800 000

1 200 000

1 100 000

Project Manager

650 000

1 100 000

900 000

Technical Writer (min. 1 yr. experience)

280 000

450 000

320 000

The salaries on this page are from the Hays Salary Guide and Market Overview 2015. Hays compiled the data based on hundreds of recruitment projects conducted by the company in 2014.

WWW.BBJ.HU

28 3

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

Made in Hungary: Innovative HR solutions When it comes to software that helps HR managers, creative Hungarians are coming up with a lot of exciting ideas. Three startups based in Hungary are offering software that can assist with recruitment, understanding office communication, or sharing information.

ZSUZSANNA SZABÓ

Indivizo: Automating interviews Imagine how helpful it might be for an HR manager if they could have a computer conduct all their interviews. With Indivizo, that’s basically what happens. “It goes back to 2012 when we came up with the idea of a video interviewing system,” says Bálint Kléri, co−founder and head of technology at Indivizo. “When I first met Kata (Illés) and András (Holics) working as HR consultants, they were just finished working for a huge project for a Hungarian organization. They literally did thousands of interviews, and they realized that part

“We are working with partners to launch an integrated gamification-based solution, which allows the candidate to play a game on the web that can be used to assess their skills.

This creates a psychological profile based on the moves of the candidate.“ of those interviews and the whole process of assessing the candidates could be automated, so we started working on a recruitment software,” recalls Kléri, who was a software developer employed by a Swedish company prior to co−founding Indivizo.

“So our first product was the video interviewing system. About half a year later, we came out with the beta version and we started our first project with a real client – Air−France−KLM – in a real recruitment process. We had a successful project though we realized that we needed something more comprehensive. Then we took a step back and rethought our product,” he continues. “Now we provide the tool as part of a talent acquisition system that allows an HR department to build any kind of workflow in a

Bálint Kléri: Making remote recruitment software at Idivizo. recruitment project. Also, we are working with partners to launch an integrated gamification−based solution, which allows the candidates to play a game on the web that can be used to assess their skills. This creates a psychological profile based on the moves of the candidate.”

As the co−founder explains, the beauty of the core product, the video interviewing system, is its user−friendliness.

Applicants only need an internet connection, a computer and a calm space.

There is no need to take a day off from the current employer to be able to show up at a job interview. Another advantage of the software from the HR side is that an HR professional and the customer predefine the interview questions, so when the interview takes place, it isn’t necessary to have an HR consultant present; the answers are recorded automatically. An extra feature of the system is that all candidates get feedback. The HR person doesn’t need to schedule an appointment for the interview, either; he/she just sets a deadline in the system to complete the interview – so the software saves an enormous amount of time.

However, Kléri notes that this is a pre−screening tool; it doesn’t mean that there is no need to meet the candidate in person, but the meeting only need take place at the very end of the recruitment process, as a final step. Instead of meeting dozens of candidates, it’s only necessary to meet the best three.

András Holics, another cofounder and head of business development, highlights a happy customer’s feedback: The company had received 700 CVs in four weeks for one single position.

The management’s expectation was to reduce the number of applicants to 50−60. The applicants were scanned through the video interviewing system.

In the end only one person was invited for a face−to−face interview; the

Gergely Szertics: Building a platform for sharing knowledge.

company hired that person and is still happy with the decision.

Holics explains that the time period between an applicant handing in a CV in response to a job advertisement and the final step of the recruitment – the so−called lead−time – can be reduced by 50% on average by their system.

In the last couple of years, the firm has been gaining clients in the Hungarian

“In Hungary there is a long tradition of conducting sociometric surveys in schools when trying to analyze human interrelations and that is exactly what I was applying in 2005 at my previous workplace when I was assessing the cooperation efficiency of an insurance company’s sales team.“ market, like K&H Bank, a subsidiary of the Belgian KBC Group, Erste Bank, MOL Group and Generali. Indivizo plans to enter the European market within 12 months. The start−up has just signed a term sheet with Oxo Angels, a group of angel investors funding a HUF 50 million convertible note to the firm, to help prepare for international expansion.

Maven7: Revealing hidden networks Whether you share information by email or by chatting on your coffee break, you probably have an idea of how news gets around your office, and you know that information is not only shared through official channels. Maven7 is designed

to help turn those unofficial channels into official, and usable means for communicating.

This software is truly about social networking, and one of its founders is world−renowned network scientist Albert− László Barabási, who is often talked about as the scientist most likely to be the next ethnic Hungarian Nobel winner for his work in the research of network theory.

The idea came out of a challenge at work: “In Hungary there is a long tradition of conducting sociometric surveys in schools when trying to analyze human interrelations and that is exactly what I was applying in 2005 at my previous workplace when I was assessing the cooperation efficiency of an insurance company’s sales team. As they were developed for school environments, sociometric tools had a lot of limitations at the time; e.g. limited group size, ability to only visualize mutual sympathy− based relations, no possibility to display the characteristics of an organization, such as different departments, hierarchy levels, locations or employee start dates, etc.,” says András Vicsek, co−founder of Maven7 (he is also a researcher, a management consultant and a trainer specialized in organizational and social network analysis).

The project gained momentum when Vicsek’s family got involved. “My father and his research team had just had their community identifying algorithm, CFinder, published in the scientific journal Nature and, during a family lunch, we realized that we were both working on analyzing networks,” Vicsek recalls.

“We put our heads together, and that was the first step to later founding Maven7, and creating OrgMapperʼs forerunner, FirmNet.” As the co−founder explains, the beauty of the cloud−based software application is that it is really easy for

WWW.BBJ.HU

3

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

András Vicsek: Mapping hidden networks with Maven7. anyone to use. OrgMapper enables HR practitioners to make the human side of their business processes manageable, predictable and measurable. The tool clearly maps and shows information that is otherwise very difficult or impossible to capture and convey in

“If a company has a position like front-line manager, then it can create a group for front-line managers, so any time someone starts learning how to be a front-line manager, they can use all the experience of others in the same role who have shared their knowledge.“ an organization. It basically gathers, measures and visualizes organizational interrelations via organizational network analysis (ONA), and makes invisible cooperation and communication patterns visible and manageable for strategic business leaders. It reveals hidden informal employee networks, exposes critical connections, departmental and hierarchical links, uncovers the barriers to information flow and identifies key individuals who connect departments and products, or are influential to their colleagues. Solving very specific problems, its five modules fit nicely into various types of organizational development projects.

Primus Capital Fund Management has invested more than HUF 170 mln (approximately $750,000) acquiring a minority stake in Maven7, enabling the further development of OrgMapper and bolstering the company’s Western European and overseas market entry.

By the end of 2014, the firm had conducted more than 300 organizational development projects using OrgMapper, and secured clients and partners in 17

countries from Uruguay to New Zealand.

The company is continually expanding globally, though the main focus market for now is the Americas. Maven7ʼs first U.S. office was opened in 2014 in Boston, and the start−up has local representation in Latin America.

all the experience of others in the same role who have shared their knowledge,” says Szertics.

Practify technology can serve cross− company knowledge sharing, as well, but the greatest business need is apparently internal information sharing. The client

Practify: Helping workers share expertise

ADVERTISEMENT

A start−up based in Hungary, Analogy, has developed a platform called Practify, which helps workers to help one another by making it easier for colleagues to share knowledge.

“HR departments need to organize different training sessions, on subjects like communication skills improvement or project management. The department is also required to show that this training is valuable for the organization – a question that business unit owners who pay for the training often ask,” says Gergely Szertics, co−founder and CEO at Analogy Zrt. “The problem is that the HR professionals who are expected to answer this question often don’t know how to. Practify is created to follow up training sessions, and can help answer this question.”

Szertics’ company makes another kind of software, GroupMind, which similarly seeks to take advantage of the knowledge of many people, in this case using the principal of artificial intelligence. But Practify is especially useful in the area of knowledge sharing among colleagues within one company.

As the CEO explains, the beauty of the product is that it creates not only a platform for knowledge and best− practice sharing but it also provides a way to present what the owners paid for, so they can see the knowledge that started in a training session being passed on further.

Put another way, Practify is basically a social media platform with structured content, where knowledge is gathered.

“For example, if a company has a position like front−line manager, then it can create a group for front−line managers, so any time someone starts learning how to be a front−line manager, they can use

29 decides what kind of groups or business units will have access to this virtual platform, and to what extent. “It would be a great thing to share knowledge between organizations, but no one wants to finance that, no one wants to share their knowledge,” says the co−founder.

János Salamon, product manager at Analogy explains that a pilot project for Practify was carried out with the Generali Insurance company in Hungary, with the sales team acting as the target group. The trial involved 50 people from all around the country, who were asked to share their best practices on the platform, and explain how they sell products to certain people. The pilot started in August 2014 and lasted for five months, eventually proving to be so successful that the firm is planning to extend it to 200 sales persons in April of this year.

A more ambitious project involved the National Institute for Family and Social Policy (NCSSZI), which ran from February through December last year. It was a leadership project in which the participants were trained for management skills like assertiveness, time−management, etc., and then allowed to share their knowledge.

An ambitious startup, Analogy has just signed an agreement worth €200,000 with a Hungarian investment group called P3, backed by Buran Venture Capital, a Moscow−based venture fund. “We are planning to enter the UK and Irish markets in the third or fourth quarter of this year,” says Szertics.

WWW.BBJ.HU

30 3

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

Helping people find work on the web paper in its window, we have room to grow. We have developed software for handling CVs, and we hope that evermore résumés will use this format in the future.

We want to enhance consciousness on the labor market, for instance in building brands. Transparency could be improved, just as it has on the online accommodation−booking market. Our other website, munkatársaim.hu (a kind of social platform for employees at various companies to meet and exchange experiences) is a step in this direction.

Hungary’s leading jobs portal does more than just maintain a website, as István Martis, portfolio director of profession.hu, explains.

NÓRA KROKOVAY

A labor market matchmaker, profession. hu is Hungary’s market−leading jobs portal, based around a website that seeks to satisfy job seekers and employers along a varied spectrum. Its attention is divided between keeping tabs on the job ads market as well as labor supply and demand, the digital environment, and even social media.

For seven years István Martis worked for Sanoma Media, profession.hu’s owner until 2014, when it was sold first to a financial investor, and then to Ringier. He has been working for various portfolios, as they are known in the company structure. But this April profession.hu is registering itself as a business – a Kft. to be exact. It has grown from being run by a few people to a current staff of 80, with more than 20,000 business clients and more than two million page views a day.

It saw a 28% rise in the number of jobs ads in 2014 from the previous year. Martis talks the Budapest Business Journal through the journey that has led here.

Q

How has the company had to change over the years?

A: We had to move in the direction of market changes. Sometimes a job ad gets thousands of responses and sometimes there are too few applicants for a job. We try to level this out and help our clients by pre−screening applicants for example, or giving clients tailored− to−need services to create the ad that will bring the desired result.

Q

How hard were you hit by the economic crisis? What was your exit strategy?

A: Those are years I don’t wish back, but we came out stronger in the end. From 2008 to 2009 and 2010 we were in a crisis period when new investments dropped drastically and business cut back on hires. At the same time, people held onto their jobs and were reluctant to change, so ads were fewer. But we were lucky to have an owner who sanctioned product development and improvements to our services for clients. This is the time we went regional, too. Before then we were really Budapest−based. After this came a kind of bounce−back, these were sort of mellow times. From 2013 to 2015 we could say things have calmed down, fears were laid aside and we have returned to normal operations.

Q

How do you keep track of changes in the jobs market? What aspects are particularly interesting for your business?

Q

Where do you meet with the most competition?

What challenges are you tackling there?

A: The biggest competition comes from global players. They stand above the law, above the rules. Take for example data protection. Here they are not playing a level field. There are global standards, but the Hungarian authorities hold us to more. And yet the authorities cannot sanction international players if they do not play fair. Language is a key issue now; there is a growing trend that this matters. Of course our position is good when it comes to hires were providing services in Hungarian is a component!

István Martis, portfolio director of profession.hu.

“Another obstacle we face on the Hungarian market is a lack of precision regarding salary information. This is kind of taboo in Hungary, both on the employer and employee side. Jobseekers are reluctant to say what they would ask for when looking for a job.”

A: Profession.hu has always felt a kind of mission towards helping to survey the labor market. Our quarterly labor market index data is well known and used by professionals in the field. We have a great position for an outlook on the jobs market: we are in the middle. We see thousands of companies recruiting on the one hand, and tens of thousands of people looking for jobs on the other.

The miracle of the online world is, of course, fast change. We use A/B testing, a method where different versions of the website are shown to different users and their usage is tested and compared.

This helps us understand what our clients want from us, and we also learn about how people look for jobs. Then we share this information at workshops and conferences.

Q

What is your view of recent changes in Hungary’s higher education system?

Are education and training meeting companies’ hiring needs?

A: There are fewer people coming out at the end of the “tunnel” of the higher education system. But there are more engineers and IT people and that is a good thing. We have a Profession Careers Program that helps fresh graduates with their job seeking and carrier planning.

We also look to boost relationships between companies and students. Earlier businesses tended to have a budget for training and financed all kinds of programs for their employees. There was lots of EU money for retraining, too, for example for service centers. I definitely think the labor market and education should be aligned.

Q

What is your relationship with HR? Do you offer services that can help this sector?

A: We control a significant slice of the HR market. We organize workshops and an internationally acclaimed annual conference that is highly regarded in the field.

Q

Does your company have room for development?

A: Going digital means there are no borders. Language is no longer an obstacle; there is a global race and social media plays a huge part. We must be on our toes and keep development fast− paced for the new generations.

Q

What about growth?

A: I always say that until the butcher shop on the corner advertises jobs by sticking a piece of

Q

You mentioned you are totally digital now. Does that mean that online job fairs have become a trend?

A: Hungary’s first virtual job fair was our big innovation in 2010. But it was not as successful as we had hoped. After three years there was a gradual loss of interest and we stopped.

Q

Are there other areas where the Hungarian market seems to be special?

A: Another obstacle we face on the Hungarian market is a lack of precision regarding salary information. This is kind of taboo in Hungary, both on the employer and employee side. Jobseekers are reluctant to say what they would ask for when looking for a job.

Q

Hungarians often insist that our market is “informal”, with jobs often filled on a recommendation basis. Does this make it difficult for you?

A: Job searches through the internet started four−five years ago in Hungary.

Now everyone does it. But yes, we find people lose faith with applying sometimes. There was one case where the HR department of the hiring company was so overloaded with work it simply had no time to send feedback to all the applicants. They all thought this was because the job had been offered to someone already. We could not really convince them that it was not so.

Q

What’s your star project for 2015?

A: We want to develop munkatársam.hu and we really recommend that people do try it. It is a great way of giving feedback on employers and finding out what it is like to work for a given company.

WWW.BBJ.HU

31

3

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; April 23, 2015

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OTHER

TOP MANAGEMENT

MIDDLE MANAGEMENT

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BANKING AND FINANCE

MANUFACTURING

SALES AND MARKETING

IT

PHARMACEUTICALS

TELECOM AND MEDIA

YEAR ESTABLISHED NO. OF OFFICES WORLDWIDE

FMCG

NO. OF CANDIDATES PLACED IN 2014 NO. OF EMPLOYEES IN EXECUTIVE SEARCH AND CONSULTING ON MARCH 1, 2015

ADVERTISING

PLACEMENT FROM DATABASE

OWNERSHIP (%) HUNGARIAN NON-HUNGARIAN

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PERCENTAGE OF CANDIDATES PLACED IN 2014 (%)

TOTAL NET REVENUE (HUF MLN) IN 2014

1,303

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4 Socialite Titanic Film Festival

37

CHANGING PLANES

Famed stunt pilot PĂŠter Besenyei made the surprise announcement that he will be leaving his Hungarian craft on the ground for the Red Bull Air Race series. 39

Giving dry Tokaji a try

38

36

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4 Socialite

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

WHAT’S

ON OLD-TIMERS WEEKEND April 10−12, Railway Museum Budapest’s Railway Museum will host the annual Old−timers weekend, a showcase of vintage automobiles and motorcycles.

Old vehicles and other equipment from the Hungarian military will also be on display.

The event features plenty of family−friendly activities including the Young Timer exhibition. Visitors are also encouraged to bring along their own vintage vehicles. www.oldtimershow.hu ETYEK PICNIC April 11, Etyek, various locations A short drive southwest of Budapest, Etyek is the closest wine region to the capital and to ring in the fair spring weather, it will host the Etyek picnic. Traditional and not so traditional fare can be sampled along with the best vintages of the region. Also part of the program are film screenings, concerts, a market and a tour of the local cellars. www.etyekipiknik.hu KÁLMÁN BALOGH AND MIKLÓS LUKÁCS IN CONCERT April 12, Vigadó In a night of improvisation on two cimbaloms (the Hungarian hammered dulcimer), two of Hungary’s most gifted players, Kálmán Balogh and Miklós Lukács will present their latest studio release.

Known for pushing the boundaries of this traditional folk instrument, Lukács and Balogh play everything from folk to jazz, ballads and contemporary tunes.

MITEM April 14−28, Madách Theater The Madách International Theater Meeting will feature theater productions and workshops with participants from more ADVERTISEMENT

Fun things to d o in Budapest for the nex t t wo weeks.

than 13 countries. Theater companies, directors and playwrights from Russia, Norway, Lithuania, Georgia, and Serbia will meet to discuss their trade as well as showcase their latest works. The following are productions being presented with English subtitles: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (April 18), “The Miser” (April 26), and “Brand” (April 27). www.mitem.hu DETI PICASSO April 17, Fonó Music Hall This Armenian ethno−rock group has called Budapest home for a number of years. They return to the stage after a short hiatus with a new lineup and a new sound characterized by a melodic melancholy with intermittent bursts of energy, all held together by Gaya Arutyunyan’s mesmerizing vocals.

BEN FROST AND VESSEL April 18, Trafó House of Contemporary Art This seventh installment of Trafó’s “Electrify” series presents Australian− born, Iceland−based producer Ben Frost, who will showcase material from his latest release, the critically acclaimed “Aurora”.

His hybrid of cinematic soundscapes, electronica and sound art remain true to a melodic structure. UK producer Seb Gainsborough, aka Vessel, will make his Budapest debut on this evening with his sophomore album “Punish Honey”, featuring experimental beats, futurist dub and noisy ambient sounds.

FÉLIX LAJKÓ April 20, Fonó Music Hall Violinist and zither player Félix Lajkó, an ethnic Hungarian from the Vojvodina province of Serbia, has been known for

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. pushing the musical envelope with his emotive improvisations. Lajkó, a regular at Fonó, leans heavily on traditional folk but frequently meanders over to classical, jazz and even blues, and is known for his colorful and varied collaborations.

SUSAN AND WILLIAM GOLDENBERG April 21, Museum of Music History The Goldenberg Duo will present a special program of classical music at the Museum of Music History including Hungarian folk songs by Béla Bartok, as well as works by Frank Bridge, Samuel Barber, Jenő Hubay, Oscar Peterson and Dvorák. Violinist Susan, who plays with the Kansas City Symphony, and pianist William, Chair of the Piano Department and Director of the Collaborative Piano Program at Northern Illinois University, have been performing together for the past 30 years.

22ND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL BUDAPEST BOOK FESTIVAL April 23−26, Millenáris Everything you ever wanted to know about books and the future of publishing can be discovered at this year’s Budapest Book Festival. Approximately 50 foreign and 500 Hungarian authors, scientists and artists will be at the festival to meet their fans.

The festival will feature a wide range of events including a literary soiree complete with musicians and Hungarian writers Krisztián Grecsó and János Háy, as well as exhibits, concerts, movie screenings, a live book trailer demonstration and a

Children’s Lit Kingdom. This year the festival will host prominent contemporary author Jonathan Franzen. www.konyvfesztival.com ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA April 24, Franz Liszt Academy of Music This New York−based, Grammy Award− winning orchestra has more than 70 recordings under its belt and nearly 50 dedicated compositions. Founded in 1972 it remains one of the world’s most important chamber orchestras, operating on a democratic basis without a conductor. A regular performer at its hometown Carnegie Hall, the orchestra has collaborated with many of the world’s most renowned soloists. On this evening it will perform Haydn’s “No. 80 in D minor”, and other Romantic and a 20th−century masterpieces as part of the Spring Festival. Also on the program is Hungarian composer Bartók’s “Divertimento for String Orchestra”.

TEATRO DI SAN CARLO April 26, Palace of Arts Naples’ opera house, Teatro di San Carlo, has hosted the premieres of many of the most renowned works in the genre, among them Verdi’s “Luisa Miller”. For the Budapest performance, the company will be led by the talented young conductor Daniele Rustioni, with Romanian singer and member of the Zurich Opera, Elena Mosuc in the title role. This concert presentation of the opera is part of the Budapest Spring Festival.

WWW.BBJ.HU

4 Socialite

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

Titanic International Film Festival The 22nd annual Titanic Festival docks in Budapest from April 10−18 with more than 50 films from around the world screening at independent cinemas.

ANIKO FENYVESI

This year’s festival focuses on women in leading roles and is a great place to catch some of the lesser known films that have yet to be picked up by a distributor. There are eight films in competition this year, while non−competition categories include American Independents, Asian Winds, The Dark Side, The Wild Side, Music For All, documentaries and shorts.

For a detailed schedule visit www. titanicfilmfest.hu. Below are some highlights from the festival.

UNDERDOG (SWEDEN, DIR: RONNIE SANDAHL) A disenfranchised young Swedish woman travels to Oslo to escape Sweden’s rampant unemployment but finds herself stuck in a destructive loop of temporary jobs, financial trouble, hard partying and soon enough at the center of an odd love triangle. An unmerciful observation of class society and the shift in power balance between Sweden and Norway.

FIDELIO – ALICE’S JOURNEY (FRANCE, DIR: LUCIE BORLETEAU) Thirty−year−old Alice is a sailor, in love but unmarried. While her companion waits for her ashore, she sets off on the Fidelio to discover that the Captain is none other than her first great love. As the ship calls at various ports, Alice has to deal with life aboard with an all−male crew and the swings of her romantic feelings.

37

PROMOTION

From Budapest to San Diego Become a part of hip-hop history and sponsor a team to attend the 13th annual World Hip Hop Dance Championships in San Diego from August 4-9.

to find that she isn’t going for a tour of duty in Iraq as she hoped. Instead, she is sent to Guantanamo. Surrounded by hostile jihadists and aggressive squad mates, she strikes up an unusual friendship with one of the detainees.

Viki Barta.

RED KNOT (USA, DIR: SCOTT COHEN) A young married couple takes a belated honeymoon aboard a research vessel bound for Antarctica. While at sea, they are confronted by how little they know about one another and soon enough their marriage begins to unravel.

STILL ALICE (USA, DIR: RICHARD GLATZER, WASH WESTMORELAND) Alice Howland, a happily married professor with three grown children is diagnosed with Early−Onset Alzheimer’s, and tries everything to slow the process. Relations with her family become strained and as the disease progresses and she struggles to stay connected to who she once was. Julianne Moore won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Alice.

The Technical Director of Hip Hop International Hungary (HHIH) Viki Barta takes hip hop very seriously, so seriously in fact that she has made it her life’s mission to spread the word and get as many Hungarian dancers to participate in the annual international dance competition.

A life-long dancer herself, Barta first discovered hip hop at the age of 12 and honed her street style for a number of years before attending the Hungarian College of Dance Art. She has since worked for several of the country’s most renowned theaters as both a dancer and choreographer and is currently choreographing “Fame” at the Operetta Theater in Budapest. “I work hard to bring the various street dance styles into a theater context and to integrate them with the more classical styles in a cohesive mix thatʼs neither too street nor too theatrical,” she says.

She considers herself very lucky to be able to spend her time doing what she loves but finding her place in this highly competitive field took a lot of hard work and dedication. When Barta isn’t at the theater, she busies herself with her hip-hop mission. As technical director, her role at HHIH is to foster local talent and get them onto the international stage.

Hip hop’s universal appeal has not only helped it become synonymous with the urban cultures of the world, but it has also made it a strong tool of communication for those who live and breathe the genre. “Hip hop brings

together people regardless of age, sex, religion or culture. The language of dance is after all an international language,’ Barta enthuses.

Given the financial constraints of the organization here in Hungary, HHIH is looking for help to send talented individuals to represent Hungary in San Diego this August. Being able to participate in the event regardless of whether you win or lose is the real incentive and evidence that hard work does in fact pay off. “Iʼm not exaggerating when I say that being a part of this competition can change lives. The world championships give these kids the opportunity to meet the pioneers in their field, those dancers who have created their own styles. That’s the kind of inspiration you can take home with you,” she says.

In HHIH’s first appearance at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships, Hungary’s gold medal team beat the U.S. bronze medalists, placing Hungary among the best in the world.

About Hip Hop International Hip Hop International is an American organization, which founded the World Hip Hop Dance Competition in 2002. HHIH is its Hungarian affiliate. All participating countries are invited to take part in four divisions: Junior, varsity, adult and mega crew. The first three groups in each division automatically acquire the right to compete. Each team consists of 5-8 members with the exception of the mega crew, which can have as many as 40 members.

CAMP X-RAY (USA, DIR: PETER SATTLER) A young woman escapes her suffocating small town by joining the military, only

HHIH is looking to send at least ten individuals to the World Hip Hop Dance Championships this August 4-9.

To find out more about becoming a sponsor visit www.hiphophungary.hu.

38

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4 Socialite

Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

Wine: Dry Tokaji takes on the world A recent tasting pitted Hungarian Hárslevelű and Furmint vintages against offerings from leading wineries from around the globe.

ROB SMYTH

If I was given a bottle of wine for each time someone extols the virtues of dry Tokaji wine, especially those made from Furmint, and puts it up there with the international classics, then I’d have a pretty stacked cellar. But is it really any good in the wider scheme of things, and how do some of the better vintages really stand up to international comparison?

This was the theme of one of a series of probing masterclasses at the inaugural Great Tokaji Wine Tasting (Nagy Tokaji Kóstoló), whereby András Horkay, head of the Central European Wine Institute (CEWI) pit a dry Hárslevelű and a Furmint against some foreign heavyweights. In the first bout, Gizella Barát Hárslevelű 2013, a full, fruity and floral wine from the loess−soil side of Tokaj, did battle against a crisp−as−they− come Pinot Grigio by the pioneering Santa Margherita from Valdadige in northern Italy from the 2014 vintage.

The barrel−fermented Hárs, which was made by László Szilágyi, simply had more going on, both on the fragrant nose (orange peel, white flower, peach and pear), and soft, round, and creamy palate than the wine that turned Pinot Grigio into a global phenomenon. They both cost HUF 3,750. Next up and still standing, the same Magyar faced up against two contrasting Sauvignon Blancs – one Kiwi from Marlborough’s Matua winery from 2014, and a more expensive single vineyard offering (Clos du Roy 2013) from Sancerre by Pascal Jolivet, which pushed the Hárs a tad towards the ropes. The first Sauvignon Blanc was pronounced on the nose

Some of the dry whites tasted. with lots of gooseberry, mango and passion fruit but was also crispy and vibrant on the palate, and just the stuff to stand out from the pack. The second was less forthcoming initially but the most impressive and long on the palate with nettle, nuttiness and green herbs mingling with stony minerality.

The next Hungarian contender was István Balassa’s Thurzó Furmint 2013, from one of Tokaj’s most southerly vineyards, where the soil is loess on top of volcanic dacite. This full−bodied wine, which had a bit of everything with nothing standing uncomfortably out, stood shoulder−to−shoulder with a trio of high−end wines: the varietally pure and zesty Riesling 2013 (at HUF 3,500 less than half the price of the Balassa) from the impressively consistent Frigyes Bott, an ethnic Hungarian winemaker from Muszla in Slovakia; the fabulously intense but also balanced and fresh Montes Alpha Chardonnay from the new world bastion of Chile (a huge wine for HUF 4,850); and the still slightly closed Maison du Montille – Bourgone Blanc 2012, from Burgundy – the old world epicenter of Chardonnay.

Whether or not the two Hungarian wines are better than these international benchmarks, these two winemakers are certainly making some breathtaking wine. These are two of the very best in my book and are worthy of a wider audience, which indeed they are gradually getting; the latter is a member of the FurmintUSA movement. All the wines mentioned here

The scene at the Great Tokaji Wine Tasting. are available from Bortársaság, which sponsored the tasting.

New winemakers and old favorites While Gizella and Balassa are now very well established among the Tokaj top flight, a new wave of exciting winemaker is emerging from the established parts of the region, as well from its fringes, and this trend was well represented among the 70 exhibitors at the Great Tokaji Wine Tasting.

There were also old favorites to be found, including István Szepsy, who has long – and quite rightly – been regarded as the region’s premier producer. In his masterclass he presented a range of hotly anticipated new releases and older vintages. What is particularly impressive about Szepsy is how he keeps looking to raise the quality bar. Not entirely happy with his dry Furmint in the 2012 vintage, which was indeed a little underwhelming and restrained for such a great producer, at an age when many mere mortals would be contemplating retirement, he determined to introduce temperature controlled fermentation for dry wines from 2013. This has given the 2013 vintage impressive freshness and aromatic lift. Szepsy also showed wine from his new vineyards from the upcoming town of Tállya, such

as Hasznos 2013, which comes from 60−year−old vines, and is rich and complex with a nice combination of nutty, floral, stony and fruity (pineapple, lime) notes held together by a firm acid backbone.

Ronn Wiegand MW, who resides in Tokaj and describes Furmint as one of the top wine grapes, very close in terms of pedigree to the world’s great noble whites of Riesling, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, presented the revamped range of the state− owned Tokaji Kereskedőház. By far the region’s largest producer, it is being whipped into shape by a proven and talented team led by former Royal Tokaji winemaker Károly Áts. Incidentally, István Balassa has been charged with sorting out Kereskedőház’s vast vineyards. While, it’s still easy to dismiss Tokaji Kereskedőház for much of the dilute, uninteresting stuff they’ve put out on the market over the years, change is very much in the air. The clean and crispy dry 2014 offerings were a really positive surprise, given that the vintage was one of the worst in recent times. Wiegand rightly observed that how a winery performs in a bad vintage is a true test of ability, and on this evidence Kereskedőház is indeed pulling its socks up.

Kereskedőház’s sweet wines from 2013 were also on a much higher plain than before.

The Great Tokaji Wine Tasting was organized by the Wine Lovers group, whose next event will be Kékfrankos Most! at the Sofitel on April 25.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 10 – April 23, 2015

39

Star local pilot switching from Hungarian plane Hungary’s world champion air racer will abandon his usual craft for the Red Bull Air Race series, starting with the Budapest race on July 4−5, the pilot tells the Budapest Business Journal.

CHRISTIAN KESZTHELYI

Hungarian aerobatics pilot and renowned world champion air racer Péter Besenyei is planning to switch to American Edge 540 aircraft from the Hungarian Corvus Racer 540 in the Red Bull Air Race series, starting with the Budapest race on July 4−5, the pilot tells the Budapest Business Journal.

“Unfortunately the wing profile and the fuselage of the Corvus Racer 540 is not suitable for Red Bull Air Race type of flying, though I need to note that it is a very good plane for air shows and performing acrobatic stunts,” Besenyei says. “If it had not been for a [Red Bull type of] race, where tenths of seconds count, we would have

never realized that the plane is not able to make tight turns,” the pilot adds.

The Corvus being the only Hungarian – indeed the only European – aircraft in the series, Besenyei feels sorry about being forced to switch to the American Edge 540.

“Simultaneously with me flying the Edge in the series, we will keep working on the Corvus, and that is the plane I will [still] be using for air shows and performing acrobatic stunts,” the pilot notes. Besenyei says that, in the long−term, he hopes to improve the Corvus Racer to make it suitable for use in the series once again.

Budapest had featured in the Red Bull racing calender since its inception in 2003, and in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship since it started in 2005.

It had been due to host a race in 2010, but that was cancelled, and the entire series was postponed from 2011−13 while the format and safety features were overhauled. Racing resumed in 2014, and returns to Budapest for the first time on July 4−5, 2015, over and along the Danube in front of the imposing Parliament building. “I am very happy that the series is returning to Budapest, which is one of the most spectacular venues of the series, and it is also one of the most popular,” the Hungarian pilot says.

Budapest will host the fourth race in the world championship, following Abu Dhabi (UAE), Chiba (Japan), and Rovinj (Croatia).

Famed pilot Péter Besenyei.

A unique feature of the Hungarian venue is that the start gate is generally under the Széchenyi Lánchíd (Chain Bridge), which means a recorded lap starts with the pilot maneuvering his plane under the bridge.

“The plans reveal that the start gate would be under Lánchíd, though it is dependent on the water levels of the Danube, however, considering it is summer, we expect it [the river] to be low,” Besenyei explains.

The pilots have already completed the opening race of the season, in Abu Dhabi, where Besenyei finished seventh. “I was satisfied with finishing seventh place, as last year’s experiences have unfortunately

shown that the plane is no longer suitable for the race,” Besenyei tells the BBJ. In fact, the Hungarian pilot says that it would have been more realistic expectation to finish further back.

According to the pilot, this year’s head− to−head system of qualification, where a pair of pilots race against each other with the winner advancing to the final four, “is unfortunate as you can get into the best four with a slower time and could be eliminated from the final four with a faster time”. Besenyei noted, that his seventh position in Abu Dhabi was chiefly due to this new system.

Péter Besenyei is often called the “godfather” of the Red Bull Air Race, as the Austrian energy−drink company Red Bull asked him in 2001 to help develop the concept of an air racing competition and lay down the rules and regulations for it.

He was the first person to test fly through the now standard air gate pylons (including a deliberate clip to make sure they safely disintegrated as intended).

The Corvus Racer 540 was designed in 2007 by András Voloscsuk and the Hungarian University of Aviation specifically for and with Péter Besenyei. The official site of Red Bull Air Race suggests that the aircraft has already attracted attention from other race teams, including Team Bonhomme.

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