Budapest Business Journal 3223

Deals of the Year

2024 Saw Hungary’s Largest Business Deal to Date

This year saw an even bigger staterelated transaction than the 2023 deal to acquire Vodafone Magyarország, albeit one that had been in the pipeline for a long time. But it is not only the state that has been active in the M&A market in 2024.  13

Restrained Real Estate Activity the Story of the Year

It remains a question when the investment market will become more liquid in Hungary after a subdued period due to numerous concerns, says the BBJ’s real estate editor Gary J. Morrell.  16

Áder Slams UN COP Process

Hungarian Artist

Gabriella Kiss and the new Surrealism

When Buda-based artist Gabriella Kiss began painting in a Surrealist style around 10 years ago, it raised eyebrows. With the revival of interest in Surrealism, however, Kiss’ work is now attracting admirers worldwide.   20

Industry Finally Shows Some Vital Signs

Although Hungary’s industrial production fell year-on-year in October, it was up 2% from the previous month. Nevertheless, 2024 could be the second year in a row that industrial production has fallen, and the downward trend is not expected to reverse anytime soon.  3

Hungary’s former President János Áder lambasts the annual UN Climate Conferences as a “circus” and argues their role should be taken by the G7 or G20 to achieve meaningful success.  6

Hungary Aims to Host the Region’s Leading Tech Summit

Budapest became the epicenter of Central Europe’s technological innovation as Techxpo 2024 opened its doors at the Millenáris from Nov. 21-24 to industry leaders, government officials, and tech enthusiasts.    10

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Robin Marshall

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS: Luca Albert, Balázs Barabás, Zsófia Czifra, Kester Eddy, Bence Gaál, Gergely Herpai, David Holzer, Levente Hörömpöli-Tóth, Gary J. Morrell, Nicholas Pongratz.

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THE EDITOR SAYS

IN PRAISE OF KEEPING LIFE SIMPLE

I trust you will forgive me the indulgence, but this last column of the year is more personal than usual. On Thursday, Nov. 28, we held our annual BBJ Mikulás mixer (doubling on this occasion as a Thanksgiving party) in the wonderful setting of the Liz & Chain Rooftop bar, hosted by our good friends at the Budapest Marriott Hotel. It was all you could want from such an event: a great location (with a stunning view), interesting people, a good atmosphere and fantastic raffle prizes. I made a couple of speeches, and it was my usual schtick, happy to make something of a fool of myself to keep things light, enjoyable and moving.

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Hopefully, the crowd gathered there won’t have realized that I had just gotten off a video call with my mother where my children, my wife and I said goodbye to her. It was the reason I was late to the event. We had received word from my brother in the United Kingdom that Mum was probably at the end of life the day before, on Wednesday afternoon. My eldest daughter rearranged her schedule to travel down to West Sussex from London on Thursday, and we spoke with Mum one last time, telling her that she was loved and how grateful we were for everything she had done for us. It was heartbreaking not to be there in person, but I am thankful we had the opportunity to do at least that. She died in the early hours of Friday morning. Why on earth did I go to that Mikulás party? Because I had already committed to doing so. And if I was going to be there, the crowd did not need to know the back story, although a handful of my colleagues did. That was a lesson learned from my parents: If you say you will do something, do it, and to the best of your ability.

It would be stretching things to say my mother featured regularly in this column, but she popped up from time to time. She had no pretense of being a high-flying business person (although, before getting married, she was a personal assistant in London, working for an executive at what was then ICI, and we all know the real power in an office lies with the PA!), but I found I have often been able to draw on her life experience.

She became adept at playing the cards she had been dealt because, she realized, no other path could take you forward. Complaining serves no purpose, achieves nothing. Fight for what you must; otherwise, roll up your sleeves and get on with it as best you can. At its core, it isn’t a complex philosophy. If I were to attempt to strip it back to its simplest form, her motto might best be summed up by Dori in “Finding Nemo,” the Pixar cartoon: “Keep on swimming.” Which is apt, because it was at a swimming pool where she first met my father. Now, she has left the pool. I tell my children it is natural to be sad, but we should not be sorry. My kid brother died aged 22, my father was 76. She would have been 95 next February. It was a full and fulfilling life, but the last weeks were difficult, and now she is at peace. So, here’s one last piece of advice from my mother: Wherever they are in the world, hold your family a little closer this Christmas and tell them they are loved.  I know I will. Merry Christmas.

Robin Marshall Editor-in-chief

THEN & NOW

In the vintage black and white photo from the Fortepan public archive, dated 1958, a man dressed as Santa Claus greets a young child on an undeveloped lot near Széna tér, between Retek utca and Lövőház utca in Budapest’s District II. In the modern color image by state news wire MTI, taken on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, the “Santa Trolley” is seen at City Hall Park, embarking on its gift-collecting journey. Shoebox-packed presents will be accepted on board until Tuesday, Dec. 17, and delivered to the Baptist Aid Service for distribution to needy children.

Photo by György Sándor / FSZEK Budapest Collection / Fortepan

Photo by Zsolt

Szigetváry / MTI

1News • macroscope

Industry Finally Shows Some Vital Signs

Although Hungary’s industrial production fell year-on-year in October, it was up 2% from the previous month. Nevertheless, 2024 could be the second year in a row that industrial production has fallen, and the downward trend is not expected to reverse anytime soon.

Industrial Production in Hungary, 2002-2024 (January-October) Production volume index

In October 2024, the volume of industrial production fell by 0.2%, or 3.1%, when adjusted for working days, compared to 12 months earlier. Based on seasonal- and working day-adjusted data, industrial output exceeded September 2024 by 2%, according to the latest data released on Friday, Dec. 6, by the Central Statistical Office (KSH).

Production volume expanded in most of the manufacturing sub-sectors. At the same time, however, among the most important sub-sectors, there was a decline in both vehicle and electrical equipment manufacturing, while that of computers, electronics, optical products, and food, beverages, and tobacco products increased. Industrial production in the first 10 months of the year was

lower

than in the same period in 2023.

The Ministry of National Economy (NGM) reacted to the data by saying that a double crisis has developed in several European countries, affecting both economics and politics. This is well exemplified by the state of France and Germany, the two most significant economies within the European Union.

Worryingly serious problems are burdening the European automotive industry. In Hungary’s most significant foreign market, Germany, factories are struggling with severe underutilization due to a lack of demand, the NGM reports in its commentary.

One of Europe’s largest car manufacturers, Germany’s Volkswagen, is planning layoffs. At the same time, Stellantis, the Netherlandsheadquartered super group of 14 iconic

automotive brands from France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States, saw sales fall by 25% in November.

Ripple and Restrain

This turbulent international situation, as well as the harmful effects of the war in Ukraine, will inevitably ripple through and restrain the performance of the export-driven Hungarian economy and industry, according to the ministry. Although the government’s goal is for GDP to grow by more than 3% next year, and industrial production would play a significant role in this, analysts are far from being as optimistic.

After the downturn in September, the overall picture for the Hungarian industry improved in October, which was a positive surprise. Still, one swallow does not make a summer, ING Bank analysts wrote in a comment following the KSH release. The improvement was encouraging, and indeed, the monthly growth rate was unusually high, but on an annual basis, there was still a significant gap: a calendar-adjusted decline of 3.1%, they reminded.

It is also telling that industrial production volumes are still 2.6%

behind

in terms of average monthly output on the figures from 2021. In other words, the October improvement alone has not yet led to a breakthrough. Moreover, over the past three years, Hungarian industry

Source:

has had some good months, but these have failed to break the negative trend.

“Detailed data is still to come, but the preliminary release from the KSH shows a similar industrial structure in some respects to what we have seen in recent months. And that is precisely why it is more likely that October’s improvement is not necessarily a turnaround in trends,” the ING Bank analysts said.

“The two main industrial sectors (transport equipment and electrical machinery) are still in decline. What is changing, however, is that the other two major segments, electronics and food, have been able to expand. Overall, the KSH also indicated that production volumes expanded in most sub-sectors,” they added.

Some Good News

Péter Kiss, investment director of Amundi Fund Management, commented that there was finally some good news among the gloomy data. It seems this is not only a Hungarian phenomenon; Polish industrial production also showed improvement. Even so, far-reaching conclusions about a future rebound cannot be drawn from this.

German industry continues to weaken (-4.5% on a yearly basis, -1% on the monthly data), meaning that Hungary’s primary export market does not indicate the kind of turnaround that could lay the foundation for sustained growth. These figures will not cause a profound market shift but may be worth paying attention to in the coming months, Kiss reckons.

The monthly expansion may be due, on the one hand, to Audi’s contract manufacturing in Győr, some 120 km west of Budapest by road, which began at the end of September and sees the assembly of the Spanish Cupra brand, like Audi part of the VW Group, partly taken over by the Hungarian unit. On the other hand, taking into account the detailed data for September, a more serious, positive shift may have been realized in the field of computer and electronic products production on a monthly basis, summarized János Nagy, a macroeconomic analyst at Erste Bank. He does not consider the short-term outlook to be favorable but believes that “in the medium term, we can perhaps be optimistic: the significant capacity expansions entering production, mainly in the automotive industry and in the field of battery production, may result in a substantial recovery in output and larger volumes starting from the second half of next year, but their positive growth effect may only appear from 2026. Based on the October data, it is too early to announce an industrial turnaround. German industrial production continues to show the sector is suffering, and until there is a turnaround, a lasting recovery is unlikely in Hungary. Indeed, the latest German industrial data again came as a significant negative surprise. In addition, the recent wave of factory closures and layoffs in the automotive and supplier sectors does not bode well for the short-term outlook, ING analysts confirm.

ZSÓFIA CZIFRA

Szijjártó Continues

to Push for Peaceful end to

War

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó has made repeated calls to boost peace efforts in Ukraine in the period before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Monday, Jan. 20, arguing that actions by the outgoing Biden administration have raised the risk of the conflict escalating.

Ukraine

Roundup Crisis

On Sunday, Nov. 17, U.S. President Joe Biden gave Ukraine permission to use U.S.-supplied Atacms missiles to strike targets in Russia, which they proceeded to do on Nov. 19. During a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Monday, Dec. 2, Szijjártó stressed that the risk of escalation of the war is more serious than ever before.

“There have been many dangerous and irresponsible decisions made in the recent past that for a country neighboring Ukraine, such as Hungary, pose particular threats,” he said in a video posted on his Facebook page.

According to the foreign minister, the past 1,000 days have shown that the war could not be resolved on the battlefield but only through negotiations, for which “the channels of diplomacy have to be kept open.” He added, “Those who close those diplomatic channels or attack those who keep them open do not really want peace.”

Upon returning to Hungary later that evening, Szijjártó addressed a National Consultation event in Pécs (195 km southwest of Budapest), saying that Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election had brought peaceful resolution to the war closer. However, the danger of escalation had also grown, “due to the measures of the outgoing Washington administration that ignore the will of the people.”

Collective Defense

Following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, Dec. 4, Szijjártó said that NATO’s collective defense should not be sacrificed or risked for any third country. “So, it’s gratifying that no decision to invite Ukraine to join the defense alliance has been taken, as this could lead to a third

Novartis Raises Awareness of Cholesterol Risks and Cardiovascular Health

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Hungary, yet public awareness remains low about the underlying risks and prevention strategies. Novartis Hungary aims to change that narrative, emphasizing the importance of cholesterol management to reduce the burden of heart attacks and strokes.

BENCE GAÁL

During a recent press event, experts highlighted the widespread but often overlooked issue of atherosclerosis, plaque buildup in arteries. Dr. Mariann Harangi, a specialist from the University of Debrecen, explained that even young adults can show signs of arterial aging, particularly men, who are prone to earlier onset compared to women. Lifestyle factors, genetics, and comorbidities like diabetes accelerate this process.

In Hungary, cardiovascular diseases claim more than 60,000 lives annually, a figure comparable to depopulating entire cities the size of Sopron or Veszprém each year. This troubling statistic underscores the urgent need for regular

cholesterol screening and lifestyle interventions.

While technological advancements in cardiovascular care have significantly improved survival rates, challenges remain. Dr. Dániel Aradi, head cardiologist at Balatonfüred State Heart Hospital, pointed out that timely treatment is critical.

“Patients must reach a [specialist] catheterization lab within an hour of a heart attack symptom onset. In Hungary, this window often exceeds six hours, drastically reducing chances of recovery,” he explained.

Public misconceptions about cholesterol also hinder prevention efforts. Experts at the event clarified the difference between “good” (HDL) cholesterol, which helps remove arterial

buildup, and “bad” (LDL) cholesterol, a key contributor to atherosclerosis. They stressed that lowering LDL levels is essential, even for young, healthy individuals. Contrary to popular belief, reducing cholesterol levels does not negatively impact hormone production.

Reversing Processes

Harangi emphasized, that the atherosclerotic process can be reversed if LDL cholesterol is sufficiently reduced. Modern guidelines recommend LDL

world war,” he said. Szijjártó argued that Ukraine is “fighting for its own freedom [and] sovereignty [...] which should be applauded but not confused with the idea that they are fighting for others.”

According to the foreign minister, the idea that Ukraine would enhance Europe’s security as a part of NATO was “nonsense,” and argued that it only risked war between NATO and Russia. Citing Article 10 of the Washington Treaty, which states that only countries that can contribute to NATO’s security could be invited to join, he said this wasn’t currently the case with Ukraine.

Later that same day in Washington, D.C., Szijjártó reiterated that an end to the conflict in Ukraine seemed closer than ever due to Trump’s victory, but “the outgoing U.S. administration is trying to make brokering peace after Jan. 20 impossible.” He believes that the desire of American voters to end the war was reflected in the election results.

“It is no coincidence that the issue of the war in Ukraine, whether to end it or continue it, was one of the most important questions in the U.S. presidential campaign, and while Donald Trump said clearly he wanted to end the war, Kamala Harris fought for continuing it.”

levels below 3 mmol/L for healthy individuals.

Another underreported factor is Lipoprotein (a), a genetically determined cholesterol subtype that exacerbates arterial damage. Unfortunately, routine lab tests in Hungary often overlook this marker, leaving a gap in comprehensive cardiovascular risk assessments.

Despite the availability of advanced treatments, prevention remains Hungary’s Achilles’ heel. A 2023 Novartis screening program found that 65% of participants required further evaluation due to high cholesterol levels. However, participation in regular screening remains low, particularly among working-age adults, where only 15%

seek preventive care compared to 36% of seniors.

Experts emphasized the role of lifestyle in cardiovascular health. While diet, exercise, and smoking cessation are critical, modern urban life introduces new risks, such as pollution and even noise, that also contribute to arterial damage. Therefore, managing cholesterol remains a cornerstone of prevention.

Over the past three decades, Hungary has made strides in reducing cardiovascular mortality rates. Advances in acute care, such as catheter-based interventions, have extended average life expectancy by two years. However, as Aradi noted, “There’s still room for improvement, particularly in medication adherence and early intervention.”

NICHOLAS PONGRATZ

Regular testing is essential.

Photo by Tamás Purger / MTI

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó holds a press conference during the two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Dec. 4.

Wing Celebrates its 25th Anniversary

The Budapest-based Central and Eastern European developer Wing is celebrating its 25th anniversary. It says it has invested almost HUF 750 billion in Hungary since 1999.

“The company, striving to create iconic buildings that provide long-term added value and promote sustainability and social responsibility, has played a key role in shaping today’s modern real estate market over the past quarter of a century,” Wing says.

Real Estate Matters

A biweekly look at real estate issues in Hungary and the region

“Since 1999, Wing has made investments worth nearly HUF 750 billion in Hungary and, through its development projects, made a significant contribution to shaping the skyline of Budapest. As a result of its international expansion, it is now also a major player in Germany and Poland,” the developer adds.

Over the past quarter-century, the company has launched office,

industrial, logistics, retail, hotel and residential development schemes. It boasts projects such as the Telekom Campus (the headquarters of Magyar Telekom and Deutsche Telekom IT Solutions) and the

headquarters of Ericsson and SiemensEvosoft on the bank of the Danube. Other projects include the Wizz Air Training Center; the ibis Styles Budapest and Tribe Budapest hotels at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport, the GoBuda Mall and the Hegyvidék Shopping Mall; and its Living brand residential parks, including the Breeam-certified Le Jardin and its latest offering, Római Park.

Under the Wing Industrial umbrella brand, it has developed and operates significant industrial and logistics business parks such as East Gate and Airport City Business Park.

Recent projects include the mixeduse Liberty office and hotel project, which hosts the first co-branded hotel in Hungary, the Liget Center, now home to RTL Hungary’s HQ, the Vitrum boutique office building and the HOP Technology Office Park.

Over its 25-year history, Wing says it has constructed 52 buildings in Hungary totaling 1.35 million sqm: an average of more than two new properties delivered each year.

It now also has a strong presence on the international stage. Wing is the majority owner of Poland’s largest real estate developer, Echo Investment, and the leading German residential and commercial property developer, Bauwert. The group has developed a total of 5.5 million sqm of real estate across the three countries.

Generative AI Takes Center Stage at Yettel Hungary

Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries worldwide, and telecommunications is no exception. Earlier this year, Yettel Hungary created a new department within its commercial division and appointed Denitsa Gavrilova as director of AI and data. The Budapest Business Journal spoke with Gavrilova about AI’s potential to enhance telecoms.

NICHOLAS PONGRATZ

Gavrilova started her career in marketing and product management, but her desire to delve deeper into data analysis and decision-making led her to transition into data science.

“At a certain point, I realized that I need to strengthen my knowledge from the data perspective because the marketing world and product management always rely on the data side to make decisions,” she explained.

Although lacking coding experience, her business knowledge enabled her to leverage what she describes as “absolutely outstanding” onboarding and learning platforms to quickly develop programming expertise. Working within R&D departments provided her first experience with

AI, which she applied at global telcos, including Vodafone and A1, primarily in machine learning and customer value management. This expertise paved the way for her current role at Yettel Hungary.

Machine learning, a form of AI that uses data to improve decisionmaking through predictive algorithms, has been in use for several years, for instance, playing a key role by enabling personalized services and targeted campaigns. Yet, it wasn’t until the advent of generative AI, specifically ChatGPT, that Yettel recognized the need to elevate AI to a strategic pillar.

“With the introduction of ChatGPT, this accelerated all companies to look much more into AI and to consider it as something that should be part of the company’s strategy,” Gavrilova explains.

Broader Applications

Through its new department, Yettel is focusing on broader applications for AI, such as digital marketing, B2B solutions, and call center operations. Some of its initiatives include modernizing analytics and enhancing system integrations. One example Gavrilova highlights is utilizing AI to migrate

systems to the cloud and improve data access to provide a 360-degree view of customers and enable more personalized offerings.

The department has also established an AI lab to foster collaboration between data teams and business units.

“Through that lab, we facilitate our work on one hand, and, on the other, we show the possibilities in the AI space to the business owners so they can come to us with the right user stories and use cases,” she explains.

As artificial intelligence use grows, so do concerns about data compliance. Yettel says it has established a robust AI policy that prevents unauthorized use and addresses ethical considerations, including bias mitigation and transparency.

“Our customers should not feel like we are the silent observer of their every step and action. We want to bring excellent experiences without that intrusive feeling,” Gavrilova stresses. She is confident that AI will help Yettel offer even more tailored products and services that better align with customer needs.

“We want our customers to feel that we know their needs and to avoid situations where they are offered products that don’t fit them at all,” she says. While machine learning will continue to drive behindthe-scenes improvements, Gavrilova expressed excitement that generative AI would offer customers tangible benefits they could directly experience, such as enhanced chatbot interactions.

GARY J. MORRELL

Denitsa Gavrilova, Director of AI and data department.

The mixed-use Liberty building developed by Wing.

Áder Slams COP as Ineffective, Proposes G20 as Basis for Future Climate Policy Discussions

Using words such as “circus” and “hypocrisy,” Hungary’s former President János Áder lambasted the annual United Nations Climate Conferences (COPs), arguing their role should be taken on by the G7 or G20 groups of nations to achieve meaningful success.

Delivering the opening address as the patron of the fifth Budapest Climate Summit on Monday, Dec. 2, the current chairman of the Blue Planet Climate Protection Foundation he co-founded lashed out at COP, usually proclaimed as the leading global climate event, alleging its sole achievement of late has been the record participant numbers.

“Attendances! 65,000 people attended Baku,” he said, referring to the COP29 conference held in Azerbaijan just two weeks previously. “Is there any sense to this? How can 65,000 people agree on anything?” he asked scathingly, comparing this figure with the 2,000 attendees at the first COP meeting in Berlin in 1995.

Far better and more effective would be for “a few hundred” experts from the G7 or G20 nations to meet regularly to thrash out policy goals. After all, it is the very nations within these groupings that produce 80% of the greenhouse gases emitted annually around the globe, he noted.

As for COP30, to be held in Brazil next year and expected to attract up to 80,000 participants, he hinted strongly in his own assessment of the enthusiasm behind the numbers:

“It’s a great place to go,” he said. Impassioned it may have been, but Áder’s address, entitled “Dreams and Reality,” was no emotional rant.

The former Fidesz MP and MEP, long known for his environmentalist concerns, reeled off a sadly impressive list of negative climate trends, ranging from rising global temperatures and

GHG emissions via ice cap melting rates to a disastrous shortfall in funding for developing nations to enact effective climate-change policies.

As regards the latter, the requested USD 1.3 trillion needed annually by developing countries to avoid “climate catastrophe” has resulted in a promise to provide only USD 300 billion, with even that sum at risk given that the world’s two largest polluters, China and the United States, have threatened to pull out of COP agreements, Áder warned.

Climate-trend Woes

Diána Ürge-Vorsatz, vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, reinforced Áder’s main thrust of concerns with her own list of climate-trend woes. In a breathless 20-minute video presentation, she underlined, “Almost every climate indicator climbed off the charts last year [...] we are exceeding almost every record, and we’re really in unchartered territories.”

The latest increases in average annual temperatures do not necessarily breach the 1.5°C threshold target stated in the Paris Agreement of 2015, as this figure is based on a 20-year rolling average. Nonetheless, “We can no longer think that [climate change] is just an issue for polar bears or our grandchildren. We can feel it on our own skins and our own economies,” she said.

Indeed, she noted three recent tornadoes alone have caused an estimated

300 bln in damage globally, precisely the combined support for climate protection for developing countries referred to by Áder in his earlier address.

“Yes, mitigation is also costly, but [...] Even the International Monetary Fund shows that actually it’s still a really important investment, and [...] there will be considerable GDP benefit if we invest in these transitions,” she said.

There are, however, positive developments, too, Ürge-Vorsatz noted, pointing to the trends in renewables.

“There is a lot of good news in the energy transition; in 2023, over onethird of global electricity was produced by renewable energy sources,” she said.

Significant Developments

Focusing on Hungary, State Secretary for Energy and Climate Policy Attila Steiner of the Ministry of Energy highlighted how recent years had seen very significant developments in the climate-change battle.

“Last year was the first year when we managed to decrease our emissions in the transport sector. There was more than a 6% drop, for the first time ever in the transport sector, and I think electromobility here has a clear role,” he said.

He also emphasized the ongoing expansion in solar energy, with total capacity now at 7,400 MW, almost perfectly matched, coincidentally, in the last week of November by a new record peak in electricity consumption of 7,450 MW.

The massive increase in photovoltaic capacity also enabled Hungary to export electricity in the summer for four consecutive days, another first. However, one of the hottest summers since records began brought its own problems, ironically coinciding with the visit of the European Union’s Energy Council.

“The electricity grids were not built for

40-45°C

[temperatures lasting] for twothree weeks. When we organized our council session here in July, for the gala dinner, we had quite a challenge […] because there was no electricity because the sub-stations exploded due to the heatwave,” Steiner revealed.

Along with such technical supply security concerns, July and August saw record high electricity prices of EUR 900 per MWh after sunset when solar arrays were no longer generating power, but electricity demand from air-conditioning systems remained at full power.

Steiner asserted that such fluctuations between available generating capacity and demand mean that Hungary must continue with plans for batter storage enhancement, nuclear expansion and, over the longer term, pumped-hydro schemes.

Quotebox: Renewables Can’t do it All.

“Electricity usage is going to go on rising inexorably. The rapid growth of the electricity-intensive data processing industries, the arrival of artificial intelligence and all the other characteristics of a modern economy require electricity to be on tap continuously, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year” noted Tim Yeo, chairman, New Nuclear Watch Institute.

“And that requirement cannot be met by renewable energy alone. Renewables have a huge contribution

to make, but they can’t do it all because the real growth in renewables is now only in solar and wind, both of which are intermittent sources.”

“So, a complete decarbonization of electricity generation must include nuclear as part of the solution. All kinds of nuclear, and lots of nuclear. Small modular reactors as well as large, more familiar reactors with the capacity of 1 GW or more. Hungary, I may say, is setting an excellent example with its overwhelming political support for nuclear.”

Photo by Zsolt

Szigetváry / MTI

Former President of the Republic János Áder, board chairman of the Blue Planet Foundation, speaks at the Budapest Climate Summit on Hungary’s position and progress in the green transition at the Marriott Hotel on Dec. 2, 2024.

Hungary’s Share of Solar Grows at Pace, but Dependence on Russian Energy Remains

Hungary has made significant strides in its solar power development recently. Through its National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) and the National Energy Strategy, the Ministry of Energy Affairs had set the ambitious goal of achieving a total installed solar capacity, which refers to the maximum output a solar power system can produce under ideal conditions, of 6,000 MW by 2030.

This target had already been surpassed last year, due to faster-than-expected installations, PwC said recently. By February 2024, this figure had reached approximately 6,800 MW through the combined efforts of industrial producers and household contributors.

As of early August 2024, Mavir, Hungary’s transmission system operator, reported that industrial solar power plants in operation had a total capacity of 3,688 MW, producing a recordbreaking output of 3,334 MW on Aug. 23. The figure, announced on Sep. 5 by the Ministry of Energy, surpassed the previous record of 3,238 MW set in July. By comparison, peak production in 2023 amounted to 2,731 MW, demonstrating the significant year-on-year growth. By August 2024, Hungary’s total solar energy capacity had reached 7,085 MW. By early September, this capacity had increased further to

7,351 MW,

according to fresh data from Mavir. The total included nearly 4,000 MW from industrial-scale solar parks and around 2,630 MW from household systems. Based on current trends, solar capacity is expected to grow by more than 1 GW for the third consecutive

Energy Matters

A biweekly look at energy issues in Hungary and the region

Share of Solar in Electricity Generation Worldwide (2023)

Percentage share of solar energy in electricity generation. World average and top 10 countries (graph includes only countries with more than 5 TWh of solar generation)

Source:

year. A recent PwC report highlighted that Hungary’s renewable electricity generation capacity, including solar, was nearing 7,850 MW by late 2024. Hungary has since revised its NECP. The updated strategy now aims for a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and increases the share of renewable energy from 21% to 29%. With the earlier solar capacity target having been achieved relatively easily, it was subsequently doubled to 12,000 MW. As of late 2024, approximately 7,100 MW of solar capacity is operational in Hungary, PwC reported. Industrial-scale facilities now account for almost 25% of gross domestic electricity production and cover 20% of total gross electricity consumption.

Foreign Dependence

However, while Hungary is exceeding expectations on the renewable energy front, it is still largely dependent on foreign resources, which a recent development made painfully clear. On Nov. 21, the United States introduced sanctions on Russia’s Gazprombank, preventing it from handling any new energy-related transactions that involve the U.S. financial system. This move also targeted around 50 other Russian banks and the Bank of Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS).

The sanctions raised concerns among European countries, particularly Hungary and Slovakia, which rely on Gazprombank for energy payments under long-term contracts with Russian energy giant Gazprom.

“EU payments for energy resources through Gazprombank will likely become impossible at the end of 2024,” Sinara Investment Bank analysts told international news wire Reuters. The next day, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó condemned the sanctions, describing them as a direct threat to the energy security of Central and Eastern Europe. In a Facebook post, Szijjártó described any interference with energy supplies as an attack on the nation’s sovereignty. He announced plans to collaborate with regional partners, including Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Türkiye, to address the issue, which he proceeded to do at the Istanbul Energy Forum the same day.

Despite these new sanctions, Russia reaffirmed its commitment to supplying Hungary with crude oil, natural gas, and nuclear fuel, Szijjártó said during a visit to Moscow on Dec. 2 to meet with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and executives from energy companies. He underscored the importance of Russian energy deliveries in securing Hungary’s energy supply, saying the issue was not a “political matter” but one of “physical reality” and infrastructure.

No Better Offer

“We have no intention of giving up this good cooperation,” he added. “If only because nobody has given us a better offer.” Szijjártó also noted that no alternative energy sources were as secure or competitively priced as those provided by Russia.

The next day, Szijjártó addressed Hungary’s Parliamentary Economy Committee to discuss the progress made in managing the impact of the sanctions. He revealed that solutions had been adopted in three of the four issues affecting Hungary’s energy transactions and that these legal constructions devised during his discussions in Moscow would ensure continued energy supplies.

A day later, Szijjártó announced Hungary’s formal request for an exemption from the U.S. sanctions on Gazprombank in Brussels, allowing Hungary and other regional countries to continue paying for gas deliveries. He noted that U.S. officials, including the Secretary of State, had signaled a willingness to hold consultations with allies regarding the sanctions. However, Szijjártó criticized the timing of these measures, highlighting the potential difficulties for Hungary, Serbia, and two NATO member states if imports of Russian gas were disrupted.

Eventually, on Dec. 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled the requirement for all buyers of Russian gas to pay through Gazprombank, according to a presidential decree that amended an earlier one issued in March 2022 that forced buyers of Russian gas to pay for deliveries via Gazprombank through a scheme involving payments in rubles. Although Russian authorities have said they have been working on resolving the issue, it was not entirely clear how the payments would be made after the amendments to the decree.

NICHOLAS PONGRATZ

AmCham Looks Ahead to 2025 With Ambitious Plans and Fresh Leadership

The 36th general assembly of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary had important items on the agenda. While executives reported as usual on the annual activities and achievements of the chamber and highlighted plans for 2025, new board members were elected, along with a new president and two new VPs.

States

LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH

AmCham Hungary continued its mission to be a leading driving force for shaping policies and enforcing a competitive business environment in 2024, as evidenced by its activities in the past 12 months.

As president Zoltán Szabó highlighted, a key milestone was publishing a new policy recommendation package in April that followed a refreshed and more strategic approach in presenting AmChams’ proposals to government decisionmakers to improve competitiveness. The document reflected a strong business perspective, incorporating key insights from members and significant contributions from committees to address competitiveness priorities effectively.

Because Hungary was holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, several meetings took place at the ministerial and state secretarial level so that the business community’s perspectives could be included in critical discussions.

A renewed decade-long cooperation agreement with the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency marked another significant occasion given that the partnership is instrumental in AmCham members’ implementing their investment projects, Szabó added.

The president recalled that some 80 events were organized throughout the year, with the 35th-anniversary gala being one of the highlights. The 10th Business Meets Government forum, co-hosted with Hipa, gathered nearly 200 stakeholders to discuss aspects of European competitiveness and was another impactful event.

Business forums with ministers Márton Nagy, János Bóka, and Péter Szijjártó, as well as Hipa CEO István Joó and Hungary’s Ambassador to the

were also great occasions to share insights between the government and the business community. Social events such as those held on Independence Day or Thanksgiving further strengthened ties between the members. With his tenure due to expire, Szabó was greeting the audience in his capacity as AmCham president for the last time.

Marvelous Years

“It has been a marvelous four years for me in this position, and we have been through fascinating moments, and tough and challenging times,” he said. “I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and despite global challenges, we became more resilient, we have a growing membership and a very stable financial situation.”

Finances were discussed in greater detail by secretary-treasurer Ákos Burján. The year 2024 promises strong results thanks to prudent budget management. Looking ahead to 2025, he said that membership retention must remain a critical focus since a significant part of the revenues comes from membership fees, making these contributions invaluable for the chamber’s operation and success.

The assembly elected Ákos Janza, MSCI’s managing director and global head of offices, as the new AmCham president, while László Kónya, managing director of Deutsche Telekom TSI Hungary, who had also competed for the role, was elected second vice president.

Potential Turning Point

“We could be at a turning point, and I would like to work with you on taking this chamber to the next level,” Janza told members. He wants to create a digital advocacy platform that amplifies members’ voices, and he believes strengthening ties with international networks is equally needed to drive collective impact.

Since Janza had served as first vice president, that position became vacant, and Veronika Spanarova, managing director and Hungry country head for Citi, was elected to the position. In addition to the new board members-at-large who were voted in, the supervisory board chair’s position went to Mike Carlson.

The 2025 Annual Plan was presented by AmCham CEO Írisz Lippai-Nagy, who highlighted the significance of the upcoming Policy Agenda 20262030, which is set to continue the chamber’s advocacy efforts. Two new committees launched this year will

help shape policy proposals, but LippaiNagy also encouraged members to present their own fresh initiatives.

On the event front, in addition to the 11th Business Meets Government Summit, policy and business forums, as well as state secretary meetings, are in the pipeline. A major digital conference is also being planned.

The AmCham Foundation is to be closed following a decision by its board of trustees. Founded initially under the AmCham umbrella in 1989, the ACF did an excellent job by focusing on charity activities and talent development, the annual assembly was told. Its most recent activities saw it reach more than 200 students with career orientation workshops and present a successful theatre show on digital awareness. Thanks to the joint efforts of volunteers, two foster homes were refurbished.

The Independence Day Party provided an excellent opportunity to give back to AmCham’s donor companies through the kids’ corner activities.

The Dr. Iván Völgyes Award, named for a man often called the father of lobbying in Hungary, is presented annually to recognize individuals who contribute significantly to Hungarian-American business relations. This year, it went to Andrea Jádi Németh, managing partner of law firm bpv Jádi Németh, a longtime supporter of AmCham, who has held several leading positions in the chamber. In her speech, she praised the “unparalleled heritage Iván Völgyes has left behind.”

AmCham Hungary’s Board, 2025

President: Ákos Janza, MSCI; first vice president: Veronika Spanarova, Citi; second vice president: László Kónya, Deutsche Telekom TSI; Treasurer: Ákos Burján, PwC; Board Members-at-Large: Edit Bencsik, Tata Consultancy Services; Etelka Dobi, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine; Attila Kövesdy, independent advisor; Gabriella Fodor, Lexmark; Dániel Mayer, Morgan Stanley Hungary Analytics; Mónika Pais, Diageo; Krisztina Ujhelyi, Medtronic; Írisz Lippai-Nagy, AmCham CEO.

Supervisory Board: Mike Carlson, chair; NSM; Judit Budai, board member; Szecskay Attorneys at Law.

United

Szabolcs Takács,

AmCham’s new president, Ákos Janza.

The newly elected AmCham board.

Photo by Lazar Todoroff

Photo by Lazar Todoroff

2 Business

Techxpo Launches with aim to Become Central Europe’s Leading Technology Summit

Budapest became the epicenter of Central Europe’s technological innovation as Techxpo 2024 opened its doors at the Millenáris from Nov. 21-24 to industry leaders, government officials, and tech enthusiasts. The event features groundbreaking discussions on digital citizenship, artificial intelligence, and sustainable innovation.

Transformative Eras

Gábor Bojár, founder of Graphisoft, contextualized these discussions by tracing the historical evolution of technology. Bojár identified three transformative eras: the invention of speech, the advent of writing, and the ongoing revolution in information processing.

“The impact of the digital revolution will far surpass that of the industrial revolution. We are only beginning to grasp its full potential,” Bojár asserted.

From Friday, Nov. 22, Techxpo opened its doors to the public, offering a wide range of interactive experiences and exhibitions. Attendees could explore cutting-edge innovations, such as smart devices and virtual reality technologies, while engaging in discussions on how technology intersects with fields like literature, fashion, and sustainability.

Interactive activities included a Red Bull F1 pit stop challenge, e-sports meet-and-greets, and a showcase of the PlayStation 5 Pro. Visitors were also treated to a Star Wars exhibition, Minecraft simulations, and a vibrant cosplay showcase. The event emphasized the concept of digital citizenship, allowing participants to experience its responsibilities and privileges.

Techxpo’s success lay in its ability to bridge the gap between technological advancement and societal needs.

By fostering discussions on critical issues such as data security, AI and environmental sustainability, the event provided a platform for exchanging ideas and solutions that address contemporary challenges.

GERGELY HERPAI

Bringing together thought leaders and innovators for the first time, the fourday event featured a rich program of international conferences, workshops, and interactive exhibits. With topics ranging from digital citizenship to artificial intelligence, the summit sought to highlight the symbiotic relationship between technology and society, emphasizing sustainability and inclusivity.

Opening the summit, Minister for the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office Antal Rogán underscored the importance of the Hungary’s Digital Citizenship Program in revolutionizing public services and administrative processes.

“I am confident that the Digital Citizenship Program application will gain the support of the masses; many will use it because they will see that it is easier to do business and identify themselves,” Rogán said.

He emphasized the potential environmental and bureaucratic benefits of adopting digital solutions, including digital signatures and IDs, which align with the government’s goals of reducing waste and streamlining bureaucracy. Launched in September, the DCP has already been downloaded by 360,000 users.

Rogán set an ambitious target of reaching three to five million downloads by 2026.

“A quiet digital revolution is unfolding, seamlessly integrating technology into our daily lives. It’s up to each individual to decide how they engage with this transformation,” he remarked, emphasizing the need for user agency in managing digital footprints.

Rogán outlined three key responsibilities: creating intelligent regulations to govern the digital landscape, expanding the accessibility of public services through digital platforms, and ensuring the security of digital transactions. Following Rogán, András Both, CEO of the Digital Hungary Agency, stressed the importance of tailoring digital services for younger generations and streamlining access across public and private sectors.

“The DCP is not just a gateway; it’s a key to unlocking new opportunities for innovation and growth,” Both said.

Complementing, not Replacing

Globally recognized futurist Gerd Leonhard expanded on the collaboration between humans and AI, emphasizing the technology’s role in complementing, rather than replacing, human intelligence.

“AI is here to augment human capabilities, not replace them,” Leonhard stated, adding that automation could free up time for more creative and value-driven pursuits.

A major highlight of the summit was György Huszics’s presentation on “Sustainable Digitalization,” shedding light on the environmental costs of digital technologies. As co-founder of Carbon. Crane and CarbonClass, Huszics pointed

out that digitalization, while beneficial, has a significant carbon footprint.

“Digital technology poses a substantial environmental challenge. For instance, 350 billion

emails are sent daily, many of which are unnecessary and remain unread. Similarly, the maintenance of 200 million active websites contributes to environmental strain,” he explained.

Despite these challenges, Huszics expressed optimism about optimizing digital tools to reduce their environmental impact. Using data from Hungary’s top companies, he demonstrated how the environmental footprint of common digital activities, such as online shopping, could be significantly minimized with targeted interventions.

Additionally, the emphasis on partnerships and collaboration ensures that the event’s impact extends beyond its four days. With an ambitious goal of becoming Central Europe’s leading technology summit by 2026, the expo aims to position Hungary as a hub for technological innovation and forwardthinking solutions. The discussions and initiatives launched during the event are expected to drive tangible results, including new policies, innovative business models, and a stronger global presence for Hungary’s tech industry.

By hosting international thought leaders and showcasing innovative technologies, Techxpo 2024 not only celebrated the present but also provided a vision for the future, one where technology serves as a tool for positive change in society.

Minister for the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office Antal Rogán celebrated Hungary’s Digital Citizenship Program.

Futurist Gerd Leonhard on the Techxpo stage.

Plenty of Reasons to Look Forward to Booming Sports Revenues

The country’s largest sports conference, Sport Forum Hungary, gathered leading representatives from the industry to reflect on the prevailing trends. Gambling, women’s sports and AI have immense potential to generate more revenues, and a new regional football competition promises further lucrative deals.

the fact that global sports betting is forecast to double in the next eight years is a huge opportunity for the sector. Several presentations drew attention to the untapped potential in women’s sports. An optimistic outlook is reflected in PwC’s recent Global Sport Survey, according to which more than 85% of respondents forecast double-digit growth over the next three to five years.

Record-breaking Year

LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH

Hungary prides itself on being a sports nation. The Olympics is a big deal: in line with tradition, the country finished 14th on the Paris 2024 medal chart, and it ranks ninth on the all-time table. Fandom doesn’t equal fitness on a societal level, though. Hungarians are the third most obese nation in Europe, with men’s life expectancy looking particularly grim. But the business of sports is booming regardless and finds fertile soil in Hungary and across the CEE region.

Today, five million Hungarians play Tippmix, the sports betting game of the national lottery company, Szerencsejáték Zrt. As chief commercial officer Zsófia Bánhegyi highlighted, the most spectacular trend is the rise of e- and V-sports, with ever more people betting on the outcome of matches played on computer games and virtual sporting events played on computers.

Gen Z is another key target group to keep an eye out for: contrary to widely shared beliefs, it does not lack in interest for sports. Up to 40% are ready to pay for related content, although Gen Z is less interested in full game broadcasts and more so in highlights, clips and short analyses. Overall,

“With unprecedented attendance and viewership of women’s events, 2023/24 was a record-breaking year that suggests a positive change in consciousness,” the report reads. The immense popularity of women’s handball in Hungary is a great indication of this phenomenon in this country. Broadcasting is also bound to be shaped by female sports engagement. Despite women making up approximately 40% of all participants in sports, only 15% of media coverage is dedicated to them. There is also room for improvement when it comes to finance. The latest Forbes highest-paid athletes list didn’t include a single lady, and just 4% of global sponsorship spending goes to individual female athletes or women’s teams.

PwC experts spoke about the changing dynamic of hosting major events, given that Hungary is toying with the idea of a 2036

Olympic bid.

These insights shed light on how differently certain aspects of the issue are perceived in the region and globally. A remarkable difference emerges when it comes to who is expected to finance such events: in CEE, 65% believe it should be mainly the government’s job to do so, whereas globally, that rate is just 50%. Financial concerns are identified as a top potential barrier regardless of the location of respondents. On the other hand, in CEE, more count on the benefits of infrastructure developments (33%) than globally (25%).

Olympic Catalyst

Árpád Kelemen, the director of PwC Sport, said the Olympic games could serve as a great catalyst to implement projects that are long overdue, such as the so-called student city or a direct rail connection from the airport to the center of Budapest.

Yet More Soccer in the Pipeline

Football fans have got used to the fact that Uefa, the European governing body for soccer, is striving to squeeze out ever more money from the beautiful game. But now it seems a similar effort is taking root at the regional level with the push for a whole new club football competition.

The idea is to change the currently imbalanced conditions where 75% of TV rights revenues amounting to EUR 17 billion land with the top five European

Thanks to previous developments, up to 95% of competitions could be carried out already in the Hungarian capital.

The 2023 Athletic World Championship further showcased the enormous economic impact a large-scale event can have. Some 29,000 foreign visitors accounted for 180,000 guest nights, generating HUF 10 billion in revenues, and the number of young people taking up athletics on a more serious basis has risen steeply. But it can prove to be a double-edged sword.

“In Rio, for instance, organizers overspent by

USD 4.4 bln, which equals the total budget of the 2024 Paris Games,” Kelemen pointed out. He pointed to one of the principal conclusions of the survey, that in the future, new commercial and hosting models will be required for major events, including a more frequent shift to co-hosting.

The business of sports is being disrupted by AI and innovation and will continue to be so. Injury prediction, fan experience enhancements, and tailor-made training programs are already happening. Down the road are things like climate change-triggered night events (assuming it will be too hot to compete in daylight hours), and robot or tech-enabled athletes.

But if you just want to stick to oldfashioned wisdom, take away what coaching icons Pál Dárdai and László Bölöni suggested: work harder, and if there’s not enough money available, come up with more ideas.

in the major European cups,” Olivier Jarosz said on behalf of LTT Sports.

leagues, whereas the bottom 49 get only EUR 5.7 bln. Thirteen countries from CEE to the Baltics and Greece plan to set up a system that would drum up more interest and deals for top clubs from the respective regions.

“National championships would continue to be respected as they represent an important value, but it is in the interest of the teams in the region to play as many quality matches as possible so that they can perform better

Asked when the matches of this league could take place, he said that the period between April and June would be appropriate, because by then the teams from the region have normally been knocked out of Uefa competitions.

“We hope that Uefa would also finance the league, and some private capital could be attracted,” Pál Orosz, CEO of FTC Labdarúgó Zrt. added. “I think that once we have the financial backing, we will find a way to run it.”

György Szöllősi, CEO, Nemzeti Sport; Pál Dárdai, former Hungarian national coach; Zsolt Lőw, former assistant coach, Bayern Munich; and László Bölöni, former coach of Sporting Lisbon.

Zsófia Bánhegyi, CCO, Szerencsejáték Zrt.

Waberer’s Shines a Light on Maltese Charity

This December, the regular truck that delivers donations to the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service throughout the year has a new look: festive lights. The cargo was also unusual: Listed hauler Waberer’s delivered 26,845 sweets to the charity to make the holiday season brighter for as many children as possible.

Santa Claus chocolate and other sweets. In addition, the company donated a further six pallets of chocolates, one for each member company in the group. In total, the company donated HUF 20 million to the charity in the form of sweets, enough for 10,000 children in need.

10,000 Children Benefit

“In the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, we have found a special partner whose work we value, which does it wholeheartedly, and we know that our donations go to the best place,” the Waberer’s boss says.

“It is a great pleasure for me that, in addition to the donation from Waberer’s, our colleagues have enthusiastically joined the initiative. As a real team, as one person, we were able to help, and together, we can put a smile on the faces of children. This teamwork is one of the greatest gifts of the festive season,” he adds.

Hungarian Maltese Relief Service

For years, the Waberer’s Group and the Maltese Charity have been working together, and this year, they prepared for Santa Claus with a seasonal collaboration.

The Waberer’s Group organized an in-house fundraising campaign this year, with colleagues collecting 750 pieces of

“The group’s subsidiary, WSZL, is a strategic logistics partner of the Maltese Relief Service, helping to store and deliver donations to various locations across the country. Over the years, they have implemented a number of extraordinary joint initiatives, and this year’s Santa Claus campaign has taken the cooperation to a new level,” says Zsolt Barna, CEO of Waberer’s Group.

“Ten thousand children will benefit from the Waberer’s Group donation, and the parcels will be delivered to the poorest small villages, to Maltese institutions supporting families and to families cared for by our volunteer groups helping people in difficult circumstances in the coming days,” says Tamás Romhányi, head of communications at the Hungarian Maltese Relief Service. He added that the charity “is grateful to the logistics company not only for the donations of pallets but also for the collection campaign among its employees and for enabling hundreds of employees to help others, i.e., to do good.” Barna was equally generous in his praise for the charity.

Lufthansa Technik Budapest to Overhaul Norwegian Aircraft Fleet

Lufthansa Technik and Nordic airline Norwegian have a business relationship that goes back 17 years, and the German aircraft maintenance firm has just announced it will be extended by another five years until at least 2030. It is also an early Christmas present for the Hungarian part of the business, as the work will done at its facilities in Budapest.

“We are super happy that we could convince our long-term partner, Norwegian, to extend our partnership for another five

years. We will help Norwegian to keep their current and growing fleet of 80 Boeing 737 NG and 737 MAX aircraft in perfect technical shape,” Thoralf Wagner, CEO of Lufthansa Technik Budapest, tells the  Budapest Business Journal

“In the next five years, they will bring their whole fleet for big overhauls and inspection to us at Budapest. That’s 120 aircraft events in total, which will strengthen our role as a center of excellence for 737 NG and 737 MAX overhauls,” he notes. The renewed

The Hungarian Maltese Relief Service is one of the largest charitable organizations in the country, caring for an average of 17,000 people every day. Its staff and volunteers provide a service based on a Christian ethos, where the Maltese approach means that there is always a door open to those in need, a place to turn for help. The organization says its work is always people-oriented; it was the first charity to make glasses for homeless people, opened the first wheelchair repair workshop and introduced signposted home care. The Hungarian Maltese Relief Service is the Hungarian relief organization of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which is more than 900 years old.

base maintenance service contract will commence on Aug. 1, 2025.

“We are grateful for Norwegian’s continued trust in Lufthansa Technik’s expertise, and we are pleased to extend our long-standing partnership,” said Marcus Motschenbacher, Lufthansa Technik’a vice president and chief commercial officer for aircraft maintenance services.

The agreement means Norwegian will benefit from guaranteed slot availability for maintenance layovers and a tailored commercial performance package to meet its specific operational needs. In addition, the leading low-cost airline will have access to Lufthansa Technik’s entire overhaul network for any unscheduled or additional maintenance needs.

About Norwegian

According to its website, the Norwegian Group consists of the parent company, Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, and its directly or indirectly owned subsidiaries in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom. Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA is headquartered at Fornebu, near Oslo. The company has more than 8,200 employees and owns two prominent Nordic airlines: Norwegian Air Shuttle and Widerøe’s Flyveselskap.

A Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737 MAX 8 coming in to land at Budapest Airport.

Photo by Soos Jozsef / Shutterstock.com

3 Special Report

Deals of the Year

2024 Saw Hungary’s Largest Business Deal to Date

Following a HUF 600 billion deal on the telecom market last year in which the state acquired an ownership stake in telecom giant Vodafone Magyarország, this year saw an even bigger staterelated transaction, albeit one that had been in the pipeline for a long time. But it is not only the state that has been active in the M&A market in 2024.

combined value increased by almost 10% compared to the 137 announcements in 2022, which resulted in a total of USD 5.9 billion that year.

The proportion of transactions directed towards Hungary increased to 41% last year. The number of investments also shows an increasing trend: in 2022, investments directed abroad accounted for barely 22% of transactions, in 2023 for 29%, and, in the first half of 2024, for 35% of all transactions.

In the past year, there was one deal that inevitably dominated the local M&A market, which, to no one’s surprise, involved the Hungarian state. However, despite geopolitical uncertainties, the domestic transaction market remained active, according to a report by EY evaluating corporate mergers and acquisitions.

In 2023, although the number of deals decreased, their estimated value increased in Hungary compared to 2022. The most attractive investment target last year was the technology sector, while this year, it was manufacturing industry that gained momentum in the first six months. Then, in June, the largest transaction in the history of the Hungarian economy was completed. Some 111 transactions were announced in Hungary in 2023, worth USD 6.4 billion. The number of deals decreased, but their

At the same time, the number of domestic transactions is decreasing year by year; last year, these transactions accounted for only 30% of all disclosed cases. Domestic companies most often invested in Poland, Serbia, and Slovenia. Among the companies investing in this country, the United States, the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany were at the forefront.

“The proportion of financial investors in Hungary has increased significantly this year. We expect that more and more similar transactions will be implemented on the market in the coming period,” the EY report cites Márton Paulovits, director of EY’s M&A practice, as saying. “This trend is supported by the nearly 1,000 highperforming mid-cap companies that can be attractive targets for both financial and strategic investors,” he adds.

In terms of the number of transactions, the most attractive sector in 2023 was technology (18 transactions), followed by the manufacturing

“The proportion of financial investors in Hungary has increased significantly this year. We expect that more and more similar transactions will be implemented on the market in the coming period. This trend is supported by the nearly 1,000 high-performing mid-cap companies that can be attractive targets for both financial and strategic investors.”

and financial sectors. In the first half of this year, manufacturing took the lead, with 11 deals completed.

Biggest Deal in Decades

In the first six months of 2024, a total of 43 acquisitions were closed and announced in Hungary. This includes the largest and most complex transaction in the decades since the change of regime in 1990, the re-purchase of Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. After more than a year of intensive negotiations, the purchase agreement for Budapest

Airport Zrt. was signed on June 6. After nearly 20 years, the airport was once again under majority national ownership, the Ministry of National Economy announced following the deal. The purchase price was put at EUR 3.1 bln, and the EUR 1.44 bln loan taken out by the previous owners has also been extended.

The negotiations between Corvinus International Investment Co. and Vinci Airports took place in two rounds. The deal was concluded with an international group of sellers: AviAlliance, GIC and CDPQ. An agreement was also reached with the foreign creditors financing the airport to close the transaction. The purchase transaction represents a record size even in Central Europe. Thanks to the agreement, the Hungarian State acquired an 80% ownership stake in Budapest Airport Zrt., and the French co-investor Vinci acquired 20%.

Entering Azeri Gas Fields

The Hungarian state has also been active in the energy sector, with another “strategic deal” announced in June. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, that the South Caucasus state and Hungary had reached an agreement on the purchase of a stake in the Shah Deniz natural gas field, which is one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Photo by Tamás Kovács

Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of Vinci Concessions (left) and Minister of National Economy Márton Nagy hold a press conference on the future objectives and business plans of Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport at Terminal 2A of the airport on July 9, 2024.

The Hungarian state-owned energy company MVM purchased a 5% stake in the production-sharing agreement for the Azerbaijani gas field and a 4% stake in the gas sales company. After the signing of the contract, Minister of Energy Csaba Lantos, whose ministry controls MVM, emphasized that this was the most significant investment in the history of the Hungarian energy company, for which it did not receive any state budget support, financing the deal entirely from its own resources.

4iG Keeps Growing

It seems the appetite of Hungary’s 4iG was not satisfied with what could be called the “Deal of the Year” in 2023, namely the purchase of 100% of the shares of Vodafone Magyarország Távközlési Zrt. This year, among other deals, it further strengthened its presence in the telecommunications market. In July, Antenna Hungária Plc., a subsidiary of 4iG Group, signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the regional telecommunications operator PR-Telecom. The Hungarian-owned PR-Telecom had its own network infrastructure and provides television, internet and fixed voice services in 10 counties and nearly 200 settlements. This acquisition would add 250,000 households to the 4iG Group’s access network, 55,000 new customers to the customer base and 3,400 km of fixed infrastructure, 4iG said. The transaction is expected to close in the final quarter of this year following the approval of the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH).

Superbank to Expand Further

One of the largest transactions, although fusion might be a better word for it, which involved a state presence, was the creation of the Hungarian Bank Holding (MBH Bank), the lengthy process of which was completed last year. Following the successful closure of the deal, the bank has announced further plans for expansion. In March 2024, it acquired a 76.35% stake in Fundamenta-Lakáskassza Zrt. aiming to become a leading player in the domestic savings and housing loan market by integrating with the Fundamenta Group through existing and untapped synergies between the two companies. In November, MBH Bank signed a purchase agreement with Generali Insurance to purchase a 14.88% stake in Fundamenta-Lakáskassza, further increasing its stake in the housing savings bank. After obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals, the credit institution will hold a total stake of 91.23% in the company.

Insuring Business Opportunities

On July 8, 2024, Gránit Biztosító, a 100% subsidiary of Waberer’s International, signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire 66.925% of Hungarian Post Insurance & Hungarian Post Life Insurance. The transaction was completed on Nov. 29. “The insurance business has already played a significant role in our strategy announced two years ago, in which we have had a decisive interest through Gránit Biztosító,” Barna Erdélyi, a Waberer’s board member, told business news portal Portfolio in a recent

When the owner of Czech delivery service Packeta acquired local peer Foxpost, the deal created the largest personal parcel delivery point network in Hungary, offering customers more than 2,700 parcel machines and 1,800 parcel delivery points.

interview. “The Waberer’s Group has not been exclusively a logistics group for a long time, and since 2016-17, it has been explicitly striving to ensure that its insurer not only insures its own fleet but also succeeds in the broader market of motor and other non-life insurance. The current further diversification is an organic continuation of our efforts so far.”

Auto Retailer Rolls out its Biggest Deal

With the largest acquisition to date in its history, AutoWallis announced in November that it has bolstered its presence in the Czech retail market. It acquired 100% of the Czech Milan Král Group, comprising six companies at five sites and employing 200 people. Prior to that, in July, the listed Hungarian retailer successfully closed another purchase after acquiring three BMW dealerships of the Czech player Stratos Auto after meeting all closing conditions, following previous approval from the Czech Competition Authority. With the acquisition, the group is now firmly present in the Czech car retail market (in addition to Hungary and Slovenia), in Prague, Hradec Králové and Pardubice. In the first step of the transaction, AutoWallis purchased 80% of the company owning the three BMW dealerships. That will increase to 100% within two years by acquiring the remaining share, the company said.

MOL Expands its Fleet

The Hungarian oil and gas giant MOL has signed an agreement with one of the largest and most dynamically developing vehicle fleet management companies in Hungary, Mercarius Fleet Management, the company announced in November. MOL Fleet Solution and Mercarius will establish a joint holding company, which will continue to operate as MOL Mercarius. The new company will manage more than 20,000 vehicles operationally as the second-largest player in the fleet market. Previously, in December 2023, MOL announced that it had signed an agreement with Indotek Group to purchase a 15% stake in Waberer’s. That deal was sealed in April 2024.

Re-packaging the Market

Hungary’s parcel market has seen some changes this year, too: the acquisition of the Foxpost delivery company was completed at the end of August. Foxpost announced the change of ownership at the beginning of the summer: it was then revealed that the previous owners, Wallis Group and Trueway (formerly known as Finext), would sell the startup to an investor consortium that also owns the Czech peer Packeta. The value of the deal has not been disclosed. Following the merger of Packeta and Foxpost, the owners decided to keep the local brand in Hungary.

Retail Chain on Domestic Hands

All obstacles have been removed for the acquisition by businessman Dániel Jellinek (founder and CEO of Indotek Group) of a stake in Auchan Magyarország Kft. The Hungarian competition authority GVH approved the deal in November, thus indirectly fulfilling the government’s goal of significantly increasing the domestic ownership share in retail. The government took a similar attitude to the banking, energy and telecommunications sectors. In addition to the 47% stake in the retailer, the real estate investor will also take over the operational management of the Auchan chain.

Auchan, which currently accounts for around 6.8% of Hungarian retail sales, has 19 large hypermarkets and five supermarkets in Hungary, with a total store area of more than 250,000 sqm. The chain also has 19 petrol stations. Jelinek stated that he does not plan to sell the stake he has just acquired in the next five years, nor does he want to bring in a partner. Indotek Group announced a year ago that it would acquire the 47% stake in Auchan Magyarország and become the sole owner of the retail premises occupied by Auchan stores through the acquisition of Ceetrus Hungary Ltd. and Nhood Services Hungary Ltd. The latter transaction is currently being closed.

Mike Kammann, board chairman of Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall AG (left) and Zsolt Barna, CEO of MBH Bank, shake hands  after signing the share purchase agreement of FundamentaLakáskassza Zrt. in Budapest, on March 27, 2024.

Photo by Márton Mónus

Consumption, Tariffs, and a Weaker HUF Indicate Headwinds for 2025

The Budapest Business Journal spoke with Zsolt Becsey, chief economist at UniCredit Bank Hungary, Attila Csáky, head of client risk management and treasury, and Eszter Gárgyán, CEE FX strategist, to get their take on the economy in 2024, and their expectations for the future. How does the U.S. election outcome shape the outlook for the region? What should we expect by way of rate cuts from the Fed, the ECB, and the MNB? And what are Hungary’s growth prospects for 2025?

EU tariffs on EV imports from China are only expected to provide a shortterm advantage to European automakers. Still, they could promote further Chinese FDI investments in the CEE region, like the planned BYD factory in Hungary, to avoid import tariffs for the Chinese brands. Overall, the protectionist trade measures will likely lead to a further deceleration in global trade, which could be negative for the export-oriented CEE economies.

in a risk scenario, the Fed might even consider rate hikes. The ECB will likely continue with gradual cuts towards, or slightly below, 2% amid weak European growth. The question is how far and how long the ECB can diverge from the Fed’s policy rate path, as historically, the two major central bank’s policy direction has been largely correlated.

households’ inflation expectations are rising, indicating doubts about the country’s outlook. Even if the labor market remains tight, blue-collar workers could face layoffs if subdued export and construction demand persists. Secondly, households’ doubts about the inflation outlook are justified, especially after the government announced a series of tax increases and the continuation of extraordinary tax measures impacting some sectors. Thirdly, the economy is feeling the financial strain from the significantly reduced influx of EU funds. Companies are delaying investment plans since, in the last 20 years, Hungarian development policy has influenced companies’ investment decisions via the availability (or the lack of) different subsidized plans, which has led to a certain dependency on these schemes. Looking ahead, the government must decide between the continuation of subsidized lending schemes and, thus, a higher deficit versus fewer subsidies, resulting in a lower deficit and market rates and more marketbased investment financing. In the case of the first option, the result will depend on whether the companies use these funds to boost GDP sustainably or just to increase their savings. The second option is what we have seen realized in the last two years.

BBJ: Which factors do you expect to be key market movers in Hungary over the next year?

BBJ: How does the outcome of the U.S. election shape the outlook for the CEE region? What are the implications of slowing global trade for a small, open economy like Hungary?

Eszter Gárgyán: The CEE region is facing an increasingly challenging external environment. The extended weakness of the European automotive industry has been one of the primary sources of negative surprises this year and has been a drag on growth, given the integration into the German automotive supply chain. Decelerating consumption growth in China and falling European new car sales have contributed to weakening external demand. However, part of the underperformance of the European car industry is related to competitiveness, as European manufacturer’s global market share has shrunk significantly. The proposed tariff hikes by Presidentelect Donald Trump (60% on U.S. imports from China and 10% from the EU) could create additional headwinds for the main manufacturing export products in the CEE, and regional producers’ participation in U.S. supply chains could weaken. The recently imposed

Secondly, there is the impact of higher U.S. dollar interest rates due to inflationary trade and fiscal policies in America and the parallel strengthening of the dollar, which constrains room for CEE central banks to cut rates without adding to depreciation pressures on their currencies. Therefore, following the U.S. election results, we have revised our growth forecasts lower and expect a weaker path for CEE exchange rates against the euro, not just the dollar.

The third factor to consider is the hardest to predict: a potential shift in geopolitical risks in the region if the new U.S. administration scales back support for Ukraine. The negotiating positions of Ukraine and Russia are so opposed that it seems unlikely an agreement to end the war could be reached in the short term or that a forced ceasefire could bring stability to the region.

BBJ: Should we expect further rate cuts from the Fed and ECB? Is the decline in core market rates creating space for the MNB to cut interest rates further?

EG: Given that the U.S. economy is close to full capacity and economic stimulus measures could add to inflationary pressures, we see diminishing room for rate cuts from the Fed next year and,

Zsolt Becsey: Regarding the National Bank of Hungary (MNB), the room to cut will be minimal next year and will remain a function of core market developments. The current approach is rather reactive to depreciation FX episodes, and there is no question that this will remain the case until March of next year. After this point, the next MNB governor will likely endorse a more growth-supportive policy, but probably through liquidity instruments and targeted programs rather than outright rate cuts. We see a good likelihood that rates will average above 6% next year.

BBJ: What are Hungary’s growth prospects for 2025?

ZsB: Hungarian GDP has underperformed. We began the year with an average growth expectation of around 2%, but the latest quarterly growth data has fallen short. The government might inject some cash towards the end of the year, and retail consumption could remain strong. Together, the two will potentially keep the annual average growth in positive territory and avoid a repeated recession after last year’s -0.9%. Our concerns lie more with the outlook for next year. While external demand might become more supportive, and new industrial capacities are expected to start production soon, internal challenges cloud the picture. Firstly,

Attila Csáky: Europe, CEE, and specifically Hungary face challenges from a rapidly changing external environment. If the Fed slows down its rate-cutting cycle, U.S. rates could represent a strong alternative for international investors, who may continue to reduce their investments in CEE. Any escalation of the global geopolitical tension would result in the same investor reaction, which could put pressure on CEE markets, including Hungary. The MNB did not continue to cut rates in November and will need to stay in data-driven mode, keeping an eye on the EUR/ HUF levels, too. EU funds would help to lower the pressure on the HUF, but that remains uncertain.

BBJ: Do you expect big moves in commodities or FX over the next 12 months?

ACs: We forecast a weakening EUR/HUF trend for 2025 to the 420-430 level. In such highly uncertain times, hedging FX and commodity risk is crucial for corporates to be able to focus on their core activities instead of bearing the risk of sudden market moves. Hungarian electricity prices have shown extreme moves in not-sosunny weeks, which can also repeat in the winter months. We offer our clients financially settled instruments to hedge their electricity or gas bills even for a year ahead. Given that Hungarian electricity prices now show a deviation from German power prices, we offer HUPX-based pricing, which perfectly matches the Hungarian electricity market price mechanism.

From left: Attila Csáky, Zsolt Becsey, and Eszter Gárgyán.

Deals of the Year: Restrained Real Estate Activity in 2024

It remains a question when the investment market will become more liquid in Hungary after a subdued period due to concerns over the cost of finance, longer-term demand in some sectors, the uncertain economic and geopolitical environment and what you might call the “perception differential” between buyers and sellers, say the Budapest Business Journal’s real estate editor Gary J. Morrell.

At the same time, there are worries about the supply of investment-grade assets, although pipelines are relatively high for the industrial and hotel segments. The Christmas wrapping around all of this is that successful development projects must meet increasingly all-embracing ESG requirements from market actors, EU Taxonomy and other international ESG-related regulations.

Investment Sector

The investment volume for Hungary fell to EUR 240 million for the year to November, according to CBRE. Eston International comments that it is common to see 100 basis point differentials between buyers and sellers in Hungary. A lack of transactions has resulted in no reliable comparative investment data.

In a rare Budapest office transaction approaching the turn of the year, Atenor successfully sold the 15,500 sqm Breeam “Excellent” rated RoseVille office complex in Budapest to BXR, a London-based fund. The developer, which operates across Europe, is now offering the 16,600 sqm first phase of its BakerStreet development (Hengermalom út 18-20, District XVI, fully let to E.ON Hungária as its HQ) to investors, having sold its 24,000 sqm Lakeside office complex in Warsaw for a reported EUR 67.5 million. Although the industrial sector is generally regarded as an attractive option for investors, the availability of investment-grade assets is limited as developers tend to hold onto

them. That said, industrial parks by independent developers are seen as a possible transaction target. The Faedra22 logistics center was sold to a Swiss-German investor. The 16,600 sqm development concept was tailored around high building specifications and a strong ESG focus, including heat pumps, solar panels and insulation, all contributing to a Breeam “Very Good” and “A+” energy rating, according to Máté Szoboszlay, business development and investment director at Faedra Group.

The Faedra22 sale was facilitated by the Colliers Capital Market department and is “an excellent example of the ongoing international investor interest in modern, ESG-compliant properties in good locations with full occupancy,” the consultancy says. “In 2024, the Faedra22 logistics park was the first and, to date, the only major commercial property sale to a foreign investor in Hungary,” comments Colliers.

The two new domestic ZF factories developed by Panattoni in Kecskemét and Debrecen, the latter acquired by OTP RE Investment Fund, will make a major contribution to strengthening one of the most significant pillars of the Hungarian economy, the automotive industry. The developer’s attention to detail ranges from the use of local contractors to the fact that the completed factories will have zero local carbon emissions during the production process and will be heated by electric heat pumps, says Zsolt Kákosy, head of property management at Icon Real Estate Management.

Retail is once again regarded as an attractive investment option, with retail parks seeing strong sales growth across the country. The leading Budapest shopping centers are not expected to transact, however, as owners are holding onto their products with a view to renovating earlier-generation assets.

One recent transaction outside the capital

(the cylindrical tower building in Buda’s District II perhaps better known as the Hotel Budapest), purchased by Market Asset Management Zrt. from Danubius Hotels. However, if the sale of the Budapest Marriott Hotel property (364 rooms) is finalized, it will undoubtedly claim the title, says Colliers.

One of the most active investors in the market is BDPST Group, which in October began renovating the iconic Hotel Gellért that it acquired from Indotek in December 2022. It is now in talks to buy the Marriott Budapest building. The deal would make BDPST one of the most significant professional investors in Budapest, with the agreement due to be closed soon, comments Newmark VLK Hungary.

Office Sector

“2024 has proved to be a very active year for our office portfolio. We completed the mixed-use development of Liberty with the delivery of another 20,000 sqm of office space,” says Noah Steinberg, chairman and CEO of Wing. “The complex offers an ESG-compliant, highquality and sustainable environment. It is designed to align with Breeam ‘Excellent’ certification, [is] energy efficient, runs on 100% green electricity and has a near-zero energy demand,” he says.

is the purchase of two Interspar units representing 17,700 sqm by Unione Group.

“After the successful acquisition of the Immofinanz and S-Immo property groups in 2022 and 2023, CPI Hungary was in the phase of aligning its portfolio by selling mainly non-core assets,” explains Attila Madler, country chief asset management officer for CPI Hungary.

“As part of this strategy, we in Hungary managed to sell two Interspars to a local investor. We could see significant interest in this single-tenant, standalone asset. On the other hand, we perceive the office investment market as almost frozen, mainly since banks do not tend to finance office transactions. We see that there are usually more equity partners behind the deals and that collecting the equity has also become very difficult,” Madler comments.

One significant deal in March 2024 saw Vörösmarty

1,a trophy asset in Budapest’s premium shopping district, change hands.

According to Máté Szoboszlay, head of direct capital deployment at Prologis, the combination of retail and parking elements would have enhanced its attractiveness for a buyer like Indotek, known for value-add strategies.

The acquisition signifies renewed confidence in the Hungarian retail sector post-pandemic and illustrates the increasing demand for mixeduse properties with diversified income streams. It also reflects Indotek’s strategy of strengthening its position in core locations, Szoboszlay adds.

Determining the hotel transaction of the year is challenging, as several significant deals were closed on the market, such as the acquisition of a 70% stake in the LUA Resort (78 rooms), the sale of the Lánchíd Hotel (48 rooms), and the transaction of the Körszálló Budapest

“Our other major project during the year was the Liget Center located next to the City Park (Városliget). The HQ building was handed over at the end of summer to RTL Hungary, one of the country’s largest commercial TV channels,” Steinberg notes.

“Wing successfully preserved the original modernist architectural features while incorporating the latest technology and the special functional needs of RTL’s broadcasting and operational activities,” he says.

“The Auditorium, a facility with a history spanning more than 70 years, has been transformed into a nearzero energy building with an ‘A’ energy efficiency and an ‘A+’ CO2 emission efficiency rating. With these enhancements, the Auditorium has become one of Budapest’s most sustainable heritage buildings,” Steinberg adds.

With the involvement of Colliers, SAP extended its office lease agreement for 18,000 sqm in Graphisoft Park in October. Unless something remarkable happens in December, the largest office market transaction of 2024 also took place with Colliers tenant representation: Ericsson Hungary extended its lease agreement in November 2024 for 20,000 sqm in an office building developed by Wing and owned by GTC.

One challenge during the process was that, initially, Ericsson planned to return 50%

of its office space, but the project was successfully closed with the retention of the entire building, says Colliers.

Newmark VLK Hungary sees the 20,000 sqm Morgan Stanley lease extension, the 11,800 sqm Nokia lease extension and the 6,000 sqm Lufthansa Systems Hungary extension as the most significant office leasings of the year.

Atenor is offering the 16,600 sqm first phase of its BakerStreet to investors.

“This year, we launched a highly complex headquarters project for one of the biggest commercial banks in Hungary in a partnership with the Workplace and PDS (Project & Design) teams,” says Kinga Major, head of marketing at iO Partners Hungary.

“The project, which involves the relocation of the two current locations and the complete interior and visual renovation of the central office building, will also involve a significant organizational and working environment transformation,” she explains.

“Workplace Strategy Consultancy played an important role in the preparation of the project, working with iO Partners’ design and project management team to develop the concept and layout of the new office. The design of the 14,000 sqm office space took into account the bank’s global working environment and image guidelines, local office use requirements, which vary significantly from area to area, and the building and environmental conditions. The plans and the resulting budget have been approved by the bank’s international management, and the project is now in the pre-construction phase,” Major adds.

Industrial Sector

The industrial market is booming, albeit with a shift towards built-tosuit projects. Both leading regional industrial park developers and operators and Hungarian players are active in a market that has grown on the back of increasing logistics and industrial space demand, in part to meet the significant FDI in the electric vehicle and related industries.

Wing Industrial has concluded an agreement with a leading regional parcel logistics operator at East Gate Pro Business Park. The 9,000building,sqm

a BTS development with a prelease agreement, will be completed by the beginning of next year. As with the three completed halls, B2 is expected to obtain Breeam “Very Good” sustainability certification.

Newmark VLK Hungary notes the 100,000 sqm Tesco’s logistics center, the HelloParks Páty PT2 32,000 sqm letting to Gebrüder Weis and the PT3 42,000 sqm prelease to Transdanubia as significant deals. In the first of these, CTP has handed over a BTS logistics facility for Tesco in Szigetszentmiklós, about 20 km south of central Budapest by road. The warehouse will serve Tesco stores across the country. The almost one-kilometer-long complex has achieved an “A” energy rating and is awaiting Breeam accreditation.

Retail Sector

Colliers recently closed two noteworthy retail deals. One involved the lease of 700 sqm of retail space, formerly occupied by Budapest Bank at Nyugati tér, to KIK for its High Street flagship store. KIK is set to open the new location in midDecember. The second deal was the lease of a 340 sqm unit, formerly occupied by Russia’s Sberbank, to Simon’s Burger for its flagship store. The exceptionally successful local F&B concept has opened 14 restaurants in just two years and has four additional locations under contract.

The Impact of Changing Audit Rules on Business Life

Márta Siklós Partner, Senior tax advisor

This year, several legislative changes affect the field of accounting and auditing. This article reviews the three most important.

From 2025, anyone can initiate legal supervision proceedings at the court of registration if a company does not publish its financial statements. Until now, this possibility has only been available to those whose legitimate interests have been harmed by non-publication.

Furthermore, the threshold for mandatory audits will increase. To date, it was obligatory above HUF 300 million (approximately EUR 725,000) in revenue. That will rise to HUF 600 mln and above (about EUR 1.45 mln), reducing the administrative burden on companies. Finally, auditors will also review companies’ environmental, social and governance reports.

Surprisingly, the first two changes could have opposite effects: sanctions for non-publication of accounts may motivate companies to publish their financials on time, with appropriate content and supported by audit, while increasing the threshold for mandatory audits narrows the scope of the obligated. The first step could, therefore, increase transparency, while the second might reduce it.

The increase in the audit threshold means SMEs will not be required to undergo a mandatory audit, effectively eliminating independent external control in this segment. Their business partners will, therefore, have to base their decisions on uncertain data and will be forced to enter into contracts with companies whose financial situation they know less about, generating an increased factor to breach financial commitments.

This increases the importance of well-founded due diligence processes (not only from legal and tax perspectives but also financial) in future M&A and other significant contract transactions.

Those who want to keep their investments in safe hands and react flexibly to rapidly changing

challenges should build on the knowledge of the audit profession, even if it is not mandatory.

The third change, the sustainability or ESG report forming part of the company’s annual report, is a hot topic. Without going into the difference between ESG and sustainability reports and their separate obligations here, we would highlight that preparing a sustainability report became mandatory for companies listed on the stock exchange this year, and from 2025, it will also be compulsory for non-listed large companies.

As part of a gradual introduction, it will be expanded to a wide range of businesses from 2028 onwards. Although large companies must prepare a sustainability report on their own activities, according to the regulations, they must also qualify their suppliers. The obligation will also affect those looking to raise green capital from external investmentsor loans.

Therefore, it is important that entrepreneurs, regardless of company size, be aware of the nature of these regulations and take the necessary steps to organize data collection processes within their firms.

In addition to evaluating the veracity of reports, LeitnerLeitner’s ESGcertified auditors can help clients meet the new expectations. During the implementation period, for example, we can help you better understand the system criteria, shaping attitudes and developing processes.

We are convinced that entrepreneurial behavior that maintains a harmonious relationship with the environment and considers stakeholders’ interests is the key to long-term, balanced operations. It is worth looking at this new reporting obligation as creating value, not as a “tick the box” obligation, but making it an intrinsic value of the company and using it to develop future growth.

LeitnerLeitner and LeitnerLaw have a long tradition of offering their clients high-quality full-scope (tax, accounting, payroll audit and legal) consulting in Central Europe. Creating integrated and multi-disciplinary onestop solutions is the main element of our client-focused approach when approaching the needs of private clients, SMEs and corporate groups on general and specific questions.

LeitnerLeitner

CTP handed over a 100,000 sqm BTS logistics facility to Tesco in Szigetszentmiklós.

The Faedra22 logistics center was sold to a Swiss-German investor.

Hotel Sector

Wing has achieved structural completion of the 167-room Tribe Budapest Airport Hotel. The four-star hotel will be completed in the second half of 2025. It stands alongside the three-star Ibis Styles Hotel (which opened in 2018 and was also developed by Wing) and offers a direct connection to the airport.

Kimpton BEM Budapest Hotel is a fivestar boutique hospitality redevelopment that opened this year, where a hotel and office building go hand in hand. Physically and functionally integrated services (gastronomy, meeting rooms, and private rooms) are available to hotel guests and office tenants alike. It is another excellent example of redevelopment, says Icon’s Kákosy.

Residential Sector

The first phase of Le Jardin, a residential park developed by Living, a unit of Wing, has received its final use permit, and the handover of 165 apartments with “A+” energy rating has started. Living says it prioritized environmentally friendly and energyefficient solutions, making Le Jardin one of the first residential developments in Hungary to obtain a Breeam “Very Good” certification in the design phase. Sales are underway, and only a few apartments are still available. It caps a successful year for Living, which started

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

2024 by reaching a significant milestone: the completion of its 1,000th apartment.

Wing has also completed the final phase of Living’s Kassák Terrace project in Budapest’s District XII. The residential park has 246 apartments with “A+” energy ratings and cutting-edge energy solutions for cost-effectiveness.

Sustainability Issues

Madler, of CPI, says this year, the developer targeted re-accrediting 14 office buildings at Breeam “Very Good” level under the latest sixth version of the scheme and acquiring new accreditation for its three shopping centers.

“We saw this as very challenging as the new v6 regime requires much more documentation and data to be collected. We see that banks usually require not only a green certification but also look into the sustainable, energy-saving performance of the assets and the owner’s ESG/sustainability strategy,” says Madler.

Consultancy Colliers has also been pursuing certification success: “Among our notable ESG accreditations, we can highlight the Leed ‘Gold’ certification of the BEM Center, with an energy-efficient building operated by heat pumps only, while the whole roof is equipped with PV panels, furthermore excellent public transportation, and bicycle connections,” it comments.

ESG criteria have become increasingly pivotal for both tenants and investors, emphasizing energy efficiency,

utility cost savings, and sustainability in the workplace, says Skanska.

“These values are integral to our development philosophy. We are incorporating these principles in all our projects. For instance, at H2Offices, features such as heat pumps underscore the advantages of energy independence and reduce reliance on central heating systems,” notes Amarilla Cseke, leasing and asset director at Skanska’s commercial development business unit in CEE.

Hungary’s real estate market in 2024 has been shaped by dynamic investment activity, transformative

Behind the Scenes of the Largest Acquisition in Hungarian Economic History

After nearly 20 years, Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport returned to majority Hungarian state ownership on June 6, 2024.

DR. PÉTER VASZARI

It took place on the same date when Budapest Airport was privatized back in 2004. What was EY’s role as one of the buy-side transaction advisors in supporting the largest acquisition in Hungary’s economic history?

Since 2004, Budapest Airport had been majority-owned and operated by international shareholders. The Hungarian state had long aspired to reclaim this national asset, recognizing its ever-growing economic importance.

2025.

leasing deals, and an unmistakable shift toward sustainability, says Zsombor Barta, a former president of and now ambassador to the Hungarian Green Business Council.

“However, beneath the momentum lie critical challenges: tightening regulatory requirements, the need for significant retrofitting of older assets, and a persistent gap between sustainability goals and market realities. Each sector – office, industrial, retail, hotel, and residential – offers insights into how the market is evolving and the hurdles it must overcome to thrive in 2025 and beyond,” Barta concludes.

acquired an 80% stake in Budapest Airport Ltd. and VINCI Airports a 20% share, with a purchase price of EUR 3.1 billion. The deal set a record, bringing the airport back into national majority ownership after nearly 20 years.

I am proud that we could support the largest and most complex transaction in Hungarian economic history, where the decades of international and domestic experience of our experts and our ability to handle the most challenging acquisitions comprehensively were literally key.

Dr. Péter Vaszari, partner at EY’s strategy and transactions advisory division.

In 2019, the airport saw a recordbreaking 16.2 million passengers, a figure that had nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2023, and there is continuous growth both in passenger numbers and cargo volume.

In such a complex case as the acquisition of an airport, the professionalism and preparedness of any team that would like to sit at the table are just the bare minimum.

One must have a team of seasoned experts ready to give their best 24/7 for almost two years.

Our involvement spanned every facet of the transaction.

We participated in negotiations with VINCI Airports, prepared the financial model, conducted due diligence and provided structuring assistance.

The acquisition concluded in June 2024. The Hungarian state

To do all this in 2023 and 2024, when we advised clients on approximately 20 other mergers and acquisitions, is a true testament to the professionalism and dedication of the best team in the country, which I am honored to co-lead with Iván Sefer.

As we look ahead to 2025, I am confident that with an improving interest rate environment and growing economic performance, M&A market activities will further intensify. The future holds great opportunities; we at EY are ready to continue serving our clients, knowing that their success is also Hungary’s success.

The author, Dr. Péter Vaszari, is a partner at EY’s Strategy and Transactions Advisory division.

The 167-room, four-star Tribe Budapest Airport Hotel by developer Wing was structurally completed this year and is due to open in the second half of

Schoenherr Wins’ Best Law Firm’ at CIJ Hungary Awards

Schoenherr has won the “Best Law Firm of the Year” title at the 2024 CIJ Awards Hungary gala in Budapest. The annual awards were presented for the 19th time by the Construction and Investment Journal at the end of November.

by a panel of more than 100 experts from the real estate, investment, architecture and construction sectors.

in the real estate sector. We remain committed to working tirelessly to provide our clients with the highestquality legal services.”

Schoenherr’s key work highlights include two built-to-suit projects executed for OTP Real Estate Investment Fund (a major Hungarian real estate market player) concerning the development of new headquarters for Rossmann Hungary and a new Hungarian site for ZF Chassis, both German companies.

The Rossmann deal was the largest BTS development in Hungary in 2023-2024. Other notable transactions include renewable greenfield projects, such as support for the Swiss company MET in acquiring a 52-hectare plot of land in Kaba (198 km east of Budapest) via a share deal and completing two 150 MW solar projects. In addition, the Schoenherr team worked on several asset deals in the industrial sector, including two for the Belgian company Bontexgeo and one for the Chinese company Fiberhome.

BUX Breaks Records: Domestic Capital Market Closed A Strong Month

The BUX, the leading index of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BÉT), closed November with an outstanding result of 77,936.21 points, up 5.5% on October, the bourse reported.

According to a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal, Schoenherr’s real estate practice has played a prominent role in landmark deals in Hungary in the last three years. The jury acknowledged the firm’s achievements in a three-stage voting process conducted

“I am extremely proud of our real estate team for their unwavering dedication and exceptional support,” said László Krüpl, head of Schoenherr Hungary’s real estate and construction practice. “This award confirms that we are heading in the right direction

2025: The Golden Era of Power Purchase Agreements –Lowering Business Risks with Green Energy

Long-Term PPAs: Redefining Energy Security

For European businesses, long-term green energy purchase agreements (PPAs) are becoming increasingly essential to securing energy supply and meeting sustainability goals. In 2023 alone, contracted PPA volumes surpassed 16 GW, with forecasts predicting this will rise to 20 GW by the end of 2024. Experts agree that the "golden era" of the European PPA market is fast approaching.

The Clear Advantages of PPAs

Spot turnover amounted to HUF 389.3 billion, with a daily average of HUF 19.47 bln. The largest turnover generators were OTP Bank, Gedeon Richter, and MOL, with HUF 296.8 bln, HUF 36.5 bln and HUF 30.9 bln, respectively, while brokerage companies Wood & Company, Concorde and ERSTE stood out.

Several significant international and domestic factors influenced the performance of the capital markets in

November: inflation, the geopolitical situation and central bank policy.

On the U.S. markets, the leading equity indices, such as the S&P 500, showed modest gains, thanks to expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut and inflation easing. However, geopolitical tensions increased volatility. In Europe, equity markets were affected by concerns over the energy crisis and the slowing German economy, holding back growth.

In contrast, the domestic capital market continued the positive trend seen in recent months. The index closed at 80,056.08 on Nov. 26, setting a new daily record.

The primary advantage of PPAs is long-term price stability, which shields businesses from unpredictable fluctuations in electricity markets. Dependence on imported natural gas and inherent market volatility pose significant risks to energy consumers. PPAs mitigate these challenges, fostering energy independence and supporting sustainable operations.

Innovation and Scalable Green Transitions with Green Cloud

The Hungarian-owned Green Cloud has introduced an innovative model to the PPA market, combining cutting-edge technical solutions with scalable green energy options. Their hybrid PPAs secure green energy supply and also incorporate fossil-based solutions to meet variable energy demands, ensuring continuous supply.

This one-stop solution is fully adaptable to the unique needs of each business, providing long-term price stability, supply security, and scalable pathways to a greener future.

ESG Compliance Made Easy

As ESG standards and sustainability regulations grow stricter, adopting green energy is no longer optional — it is a strategic advantage. Green Cloud helps businesses achieve their decarbonization goals and improve their sustainability performance, offering certified green energy sourced locally in Hungary. By prioritizing domestically-produced green energy, Green Cloud offers a cost-competitive, sustainable alternative to traditional fossil fuel-based energy management.

A Greener Future Starts Today

Green Cloud enables companies to reduce their environmental impact while achieving financial stability and predictable energy costs — paving the way to a more sustainable future.

Although relatively new globally and in Hungary, Green Cloud’s services are already trusted by major clients. Westend and OTP Real Estate Investment Fund Management have adopted Green Cloud’s decarbonization PPA solution to secure their green energy supply. Thanks to Green Cloud, the entire Westend building complex, owned by Gránit Pólus, which comprises a three-function facility including the shopping center, the office building, and the hotel, now covers over 60% of its total energy needs with clean energy, while OTP Real Estate Investment Fund Management powers 30% of its entire property portfolio with sustainable sources.

Take the Next Step Toward Sustainability

The Green Cloud Decarbonization Package offers a realistic, effective way to make your business operations greener. To learn more, contact us today.

László Krüpl, head of Schoenherr Hungary’s real estate and construction practice.

4 Socialite Hungarian Artist Gabriella Kiss and the new Surrealism

When Buda-based artist Gabriella Kiss began painting in a Surrealist style around 10 years ago, it raised eyebrows. With the revival of interest in Surrealism, Kiss’ work is attracting admirers worldwide.

forms, mannequins, long shadows, strange perspectives and interest in metaphysics. Oddly, Kiss was unaware of de Chirico until a friend pointed out the similarities in their work.

“When I was shown paintings by de Chirico such as ‘The Enigma of an Autumn Afternoon’ painted in 1910 or ‘The Grand Metaphysician’ from 1917, I realized I had a connection without knowing it,” Kiss tells me. “I’ve used mannequins in my work ever since childhood, for example. De Chirico’s work felt instantly familiar to me.”

In 2024, Kiss entered a competition run by London’s Boomer Gallery and was a place winner. Her work was featured in the gallery’s magazine. It was also shown at the Paris Art Expo. The Thomson Gallery in Switzerland, where Kiss exhibited, said of her painting “Stillness, Movement & the Sea” that it was a standout.

Contemplate Your Journey

Kiss showed promise as an artist at an early age. Between 1988 and 1990, she studied at the Budapest Decoration School, where she worked and experimented with plastic forms and mannequins. From 1992 to 1997, she was a student at Budapest’s prestigious Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME).

After receiving her diploma in textile design, she spent two years in Tuscany, Italy, as a textile designer. She studied the great Italian Renaissance painters who remain a significant influence;

she produces large oil paintings on wood as they did but with a 3D twist. Her hero is El Greco because of his colors and technique.

Returning from Italy in 2000, Kiss worked for an art and fashion company in Budapest. She created her own company, Art Active, and organized fashion shows. All the while, she was making illustrations and designs on commission and painting. Her work was exhibited throughout Hungary. Much of her time was spent helping other artists become successful. Kiss’ work took on a surrealist aspect when she began traveling to the Balearic Island of Mallorca.

“I spent hours gazing at the sea, absorbing the colors and soaking up the Mediterranean sense of antiquity,” she tells me.

Surrealism developed after the end of World War I when certain artists felt insanity and unreason had triumphed over decades of academic tradition and unbroken continuity. Artists such as Rene Magritte, who Kiss admires enormously, painted illogical or dreamlike scenes to, as Surrealist leader André Breton said, “resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality or surreality.”

Today, as a modern Hungarian Surrealist, Kiss creates a finely detailed world that feels intensely symbolic.

Powerful Force

“The symbol of the lily reoccurs in my work, morphing from a soft, organic blue flower into an angular form that gives birth to seeds that float off into the air,” she said. “The lily represents mercy.

But underneath its softness, it’s a powerful force. When its form becomes angular, it gives birth to the chess pieces that symbolize battle. We never know when softness will transform into conflict. The floating balls represent possibility. Broken steps symbolize boundaries.”

Asked what Surrealism means to her, Kiss explains, “It’s about the difference between what’s supposed to be real and what’s imagined. I want to stimulate curiosity in the viewer. My paintings invite the observer to ask their own questions and find their own answers. When a friend renovated their house, they stored paintings of mine in their garage. One day, the workers all vanished from the house. My friend went looking for them. He found them in his garage, standing in a semi-circle, smoking and gazing at my paintings in silence. They were transfixed, he said. I love that story.”

Apart from Magritte and El Greco, Kiss also admires Stella Sneed, Felix Labisse, Pierre Reverdy, Edgar Endre and David Lynch, best known for his movies and TV series. Kiss was impressed by the 2019 exhibition

of Lynch’s black and white photos at the Hall of Art (the Műcsarnok or Kunsthalle) on Budapest’s Heroes’ Square.

Someone who knows their art history might spot a resemblance between Kiss’ work and that of Greek-born Italian painter Guiseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico. Kiss and de Chirico share a sense of haunted melancholy created by their use of architectural

“Visitors resonated with its deep emotional undercurrents, expressing how it made them contemplate their own journeys through life’s fluctuations.” Outside the galleries, Surrealism, especially Dali and Magritte, has always appealed to art lovers with little interest in contemporary art fashions. The same is true today. Kiss couldn’t say precisely why Surrealism is experiencing a revival. “It could be because many of us feel we’re living in a surreal world, and the art reflects our feelings, our desire for freedom and our deepest fears,” she suggests. Kiss believes the fact that her work expresses her conviction that she must do what’s right for her, create her own world, play her own game, resonates with visitors to galleries and her

7.5 thousand followers on Instagram.

“My Instagram followers often tell me how much I give them,” Kiss says. “Some, inspired by me, tell me they’ve carried on painting when they’ve felt like giving up.” Kiss herself is inspired by the example of Hungarian painter Judit Reigl. “Because of my life experience, I have many more ideas than when I was younger, and I’m scared I won’t have time to realize them all. Reigl painted until she died aged 97. I will never stop.”

In 2025, Kiss will have exhibitions in Switzerland and Mallorca. You can learn more about the artist and her work via her website, gabriellakissart.com.

DAVID HOLZER

Gabriella Kiss and one of her Surrealist works.

Like the Renaissance painters, Gabriella Kiss produces large oil paintings on wood but with a 3D twist.

Bringing Best Sake to Hungary: The Eastern Opening Beverage

When Panka Juhász returned to Hungary in 2019 after a 15-year stint in the United Kingdom, she knew she was missing something: Genuine, high-quality Japanese sake.

Leaving her home country for London in the early 2000s, the young psychology student began working in the hospitality industry to make ends meet. As a result, she “fell down a rabbit hole,” becoming engrossed first in fine dining and wine and then into a love-affair with the ricebased brew from Japan.

There were some mass-produced sake brands on the shelves of Budapest Asian shops (much of it, she says, actually produced in the United States). But of the type to match, say, a fine single malt Scottish Whisky, there was none.

“I couldn’t find any premium sake that I was used to in the U.K., so it was my dream to have a small company to import some of the premium stuff here,” she tells the  Budapest Business Journal It took considerable time and effort, but after linking up with compatriot Dóra Tallián of World Sake (see box), the pair formed FineSake Budapest

under the umbrella of local drinks importer Collectivewarehouse, and launched their marketing crusade in 2021.

It was good timing. With the rapid growth of high-quality restaurants in Budapest in recent years and broadening awareness of culinary variety, restaurateurs actively sought new products to satisfy customers’ changing demands.

“If you look at the market, finedining restaurants, the whole situation of gastronomy at the moment [...] definitely [in] the last decade, there’s been a really big boom. People are more open, chefs travel more and get inspired by other cultures, a lot of the time by Asia,” Juhász says.

Upmarket Customer Base

World Sake’s focus on smaller, traditional, high-quality breweries means the products do not come cheap. FineSake Budapest’s retail prices vary between HUF 8,000 and HUF 45,000 per bottle, with the average around HUF 16,000. Inevitably, this means the commercial customer base is predominately up-market outlets. But that is not without its benefits.

“In these hospitality venues, people are passionate and professional; they understand how important it is to [have] education, deep product knowledge, how you care for your product,” Juhász

Educating Public and Professionals About Premium Sake

Dóra Tallián, the Hungarianborn European Union regional manager with German-based World Sake Imports, strives to clear up the “huge confusion” surrounding Japanese sake.

Together with Panka Juhász, the two have run numerous master classes in Hungary designed to cut through the myths and false understandings surrounding the rice-based drink, which exists in a vast variety of forms and flavors.

“First of all, it’s fermented, not distilled. OK, you can have it from a short glass, but it’s not a short; you should drink it as a wine, sip by sip. The Japanese tend to use wine glasses for sake,” Tallián says.

Furthermore, premium sake, made from carefully prepared Japanese rice, is “supernatural,” with no preservative additives, by law, so it must be kept cold and in the dark to maintain quality.

“That’s why there is so much bad sake on the market in countries where sake drinking is not so popular; there are products lying around on shelves of restaurants and supermarkets, and when you pour them, they have this old smell and yellowish color. There is nothing attractive about that,” Tallián laments.

As a result, many peoples’ first taste of sake has been a disappointment, giving the drink a bad name for some and making

marketing an uphill battle “Until premium sake was introduced to the market with very clear instructions to always store it in the refrigerator, not on the shelf. Sake is not going to wait for your son to reach his 18th birthday; it’s not for that! It’s supposed to be fresh,” Tallián underlines. Local beverage culture and beliefs can be another barrier.

“It’s always very difficult in countries which are really proud of their wine or beer [...] they’ll just not understand the flavors of sake,” she says. In the last decade, however, with younger people traveling more and prepared to try new beverages, a broader appreciation of this Japanese specialty is growing.

The ‘Jewel River’ Sake That Excites Hungarian Palates

Perhaps the biggest surprise for Panka Juhász in the past three years has been the success of Kinoshita Brewery’s Tamagawa sake. Tamagawa (it translates as “Jewel River”) is the creation of Philip Harper, an Englishman and the sole foreigner to be awarded the title toji , or sake brewmaster.

“To be accepted by the toji community in Japan, it’s quite exceptional,” says Juhász.

Both Juhász and Tallián rave about Harper’s products, saying his style is “very bold” with “lots of unexpected flavors for those more used to classical sake.” However, Juhász feared “Not everybody would be into it,” and initially ordered just a few cases to test the market, only to find it sold well. As a result, she now has four different Tamagawa sakes in the portfolio, two of them top-sellers.

“It just goes to show that until you try it, you don’t know,” Juhász says. “I think it’s the Hungarian palate; we’re more used to spicy, big, bold flavors. Maybe that’s why it’s very popular.”

argues. And for good reason: Like the best wines, sake needs care to preserve its flavors.

“Sake is quite sensitive: you need to keep it stored cold and in the dark at all times, even in our own warehouse. And you have to be very careful delivering it,” she stresses.

Both Juhász and Tallián put many hours into educating sommeliers and restaurateurs about the intricacies of brewing sake, typically introducing one or two sake brewery owners or toji (brewmasters) to Hungarian clients every year.

“I’m not aware that any other sake distributor has done this before. It creates an extra form of attachment, emotionally, and they get all the extra information [personally] that they wouldn’t get otherwise from the website,” says Juhász.

The effort is now beginning to pay off. FineSake Budapest claims 40 regular customers, and sales are growing 30-40% annually.

“What’s amazing for me is that every month now, several places call me and say: ‘I’ve heard from so and so that you’re the best for sake. I want some interesting sake; where can we buy it?’ People are actually coming to us now from word-ofmouth,” beams Juhász. “For me, that’s amazing, [it’s] sort of organically happening, organically growing.”

KESTER EDDY

Panka Juhász (left) and Dóra Tallián of FineSake Budapest.

Culture

in Brief News

Hungary 365 Photo Competition Winners

Announced

The awards of this year’s Hungary 365 photo competition were presented at the Millenáris exhibition space in Budapest, according to kultura.hu [Culture]. This year’s competition was open to entries in six categories (nature, landscape, architecture, culture, sport, and life) with individual images or series. The professional jury awarded three prizes in each category, along with a special jury prize. The first prize winners and the special prize winner received HUF 2 million (EUR 4,800) net, the second prize winners HUF 1 mln (EUR 2,400) and the third prize winners HUF 500,000 (EUR 1,200). Péter Baki, Director of the Hungarian Museum of Photography, said at the award ceremony that “the aim of the photo

competition, launched in 2019, is to present Hungary’s pride through the lens of the artists with a unique vision and to develop further Hungarian visual culture through high-quality works.”

Hungarian Film Fund Selects 5 Projects for Incubator Program

The Hungarian National Film Fund has announced the selection of five debut feature film projects for its Incubator program, providing production support of up to EUR 329,000 for fiction and EUR 97,000 for documentaries. Among the chosen projects is “We Will Live for a Thousand Years and We Will Be Very Sad at the End” by Kristóf Orzói, exploring themes of addiction and loneliness. Other works include “Temama” by Pici Pápai, focusing on a

woman’s moral dilemma; “Firedamp” by Gábor Varga, a narrative about a miner’s mysterious return; “The Last Train Robbery” by Péter Karácsony, a dark comedy set in the 1860s; and “The Aud” by Bence Sipos, delving into the world of a young musician.

Diaspora Council: 2025 Year of Future Generations

The 13th session of the Hungarian Diaspora Council in Budapest adopted a closing declaration proposing that 2025 should be dedicated as a year for future generations, according to a statement issued on Nov. 21. It pledges the council’s support for the Hungarian Government’s endeavors to secure peace for the security of the Hungarian nation and Hungarian families in the interests of protecting and maintaining joint achievements, the document says. Further, the council hopes that successful diaspora youth programs such as the Students Without Boundaries and the ReConnect Hungary: Magyar Birthright programs will reach more young people. They also

Munkácsy Celebrated as ‘National Genius’ at Exhibition Opening

László Kövér, Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament (center), with (from left) László Baán, director general of the Museum of Fine Arts, Réka Krasznai, art historian and curator of the exhibition and writer and former Secretary of State for Culture László L. Simon, at the opening of the exhibition “Munkácsy: The Story of a Worldwise Sensation” at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy’s works are “a manifestation of homeland and national genius,” the Speaker of Parliament László Kövér said on Nov. 26 at the opening of a new exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. According to state news agency MTI, the

jubilee exhibition marks the 180th anniversary of the birth and 125th anniversary of the death of Munkácsy, putting his lesser-known works on show in addition to his more significant works. It runs until March 30, 2025. From the most difficult personal and historical circumstances, Munkácsy rose to the

highest echelons of Hungarian fine art, Kövér said. He also noted that the painting “Honfoglalás,” which has hung in the Office of Parliament since 1929, has been donated to the exhibition, and plans are being made to find a suitable long-term location for the work so that visitors can view it without restriction.

welcome the maintenance of the Sándor Kőrösi Csoma scholarship program this year, with an increased number of participants. The declaration highlights the role of diaspora communities in serving as a bridge between the mother country and those integrating them.

Contemporary Chinese art on Display at Hungarian National Museum

An exhibition dubbed “Chinese Xieyi: Art from the National Art Museum of China,” presenting the works of contemporary Chinese artists, will run until Jan. 5 at the Hungarian National Museum. The exhibition, featuring 58 works, opened on Nov. 19. The partnership between China and Hungary goes back several decades, with the two countries marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year, Minister of Culture and Innovation Balázs Hankó said at the opening event. There are strong ties in the economic, political and cultural fields, and the two countries are dedicated to further strengthening cooperation between universities in research and innovation, Hankó said.

8 Hungarian Universities Among Top 500 in Shanghai Ranking

Eight Hungarian universities rank among the top 500 in the latest Shanghai Ranking, the Ministry of Culture and Innovation said in a statement on Nov. 13. The ministry noted that Hungarian institutions were competing with prestigious universities like Harvard and Oxford in five main academic fields. Semmelweis University ranked in the top 100 in the field of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, the ministry said, while Loránd Eötvös University (ELTE), the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) and the University of Veterinary Medicine (ATE) also performed well. The Global Ranking of Academic Subjects ranks 1,900 universities from 96 countries in natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences and social sciences.

World Aquatics

Inaugurates Temporary HQ in Budapest

World Aquatics has inaugurated its temporary headquarters in Budapest after relocating from Lausanne, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said. The governing body is set to move its entire global HQ to the Hungarian capital by 2027. In his speech at the inauguration ceremony, Szijjártó recalled that, under an agreement signed between the Hungarian Government and World Aquatics a few years ago, the move also includes establishing a global training and education center. Szijjártó noted that the office inaugurated in November is temporary, and the World Aquatics Center will be inaugurated next year. By 2026, Szijjártó said, the entire global headquarters will be ready, and all aquatics-related activities will be managed from Budapest from 2027.

Photo by Szilárd Koszticsák / MTI

Chamber of Commerce Corner

This regular section of the Budapest Business Journal features news and events from various international business chambers. For further information and to register for specific events, visit the organizing chamber’s website. If you have information for inclusion on this page, send an email in English to Annamária Bálint at annamaria.balint@bbj.hu

Hungarian-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce (HNCC)

On Wednesday, Dec. 4, the Embassy of Hungary in Oslo hosted the last HNCC board meeting of the year, followed by the chamber’s annual general assembly with a Julebord (traditional Norwegian Christmas tables) event. At the general assembly, the HNCC’s 2024 professional and financial reports, along with the program plans for the upcoming year, were unanimously approved. The leadership also encouraged members to leverage their networks to support the chamber’s growth by attracting new joiners.

Belgian Business Club in Hungary (Belgabiz)

Belgabiz hosted its “Art & Wine” networking event on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at TokajArtWine Gallery. A trendy, cozy gallery, delicious Tokaj wines and excellent company made for a perfect networking event, the chamber says. Anna Berger and Péter Márton, the passionate owners of the gallery, shared their vision of blending contemporary art with wine culture. The art fair, featuring works by contemporary artists with Luca Katalin Simon and Patrick Murakami present in person, added a creative, personal touch.

German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DUIHK)

The DUIHK annual kick-off 2025 event will offer a wealth of information and networking opportunities in a festive setting. The DUIHK will provide information about the chamber’s planned activities and focal points for the coming year, in which companies in both countries will continue to face significant challenges given political and geopolitical developments. The early federal election also casts its shadow, raising many hopes and questions regarding the future economic policy course of the newly elected German government. Guest speakers will be Minister for Economic Affairs Márton Nagy and Prof. Dr Michael Hüther, director and board member of the Cologne Institute for Economic Research.

• When: Thursday, Jan. 30, 6-10 p.m.

• Where: Bem Center Budapest, Bem József tér 3, Budapest 1027 • Fee: Members HUF 39,000 (+ VAT); non-members HUF 62,000 (+ VAT).

Hungarian-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFH)

On Saturday, Nov. 16, the CCIFH held its large-scale gala event, “Le Grand Bleu” (The Big Blue), at Hungexpo. More than 440 guests were invited to a fantastical underwater world to enjoy the limitless feeling of freediving among the French business community. The seated dinner had everything to recreate the underwater world, including tasting stands and animations, breathtaking decorations and artistic moments, raffle games, an art exhibition, and even an AI photobooth. Guest presenter Fatima Korok, the Hungarian freediving world recorder, gave an incredible insight into the feeling of freediving and the mental conditions to prepare for it. Our takeaway: Life is not about how many breaths you take; it’s those moments that take your breath away. Save the date: The CCIFH year-opening business lunch will feature Minister for Economic Affairs Márton Nagy on the 2025 economic outlook for Hungary. The professional partner of the event will be MAPI Magyar Fejlesztési Iroda Zrt. The language of the event will be English, without translation. • When: Thursday, February 6, 2025, 12.00 a.m. – 2 p.m. • Where: soon.

Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hungary (CCCH)

As 2024 draws to a close, the CCCH has extended its heartfelt thanks to all who joined it throughout the year. This year, the chamber hosted a diverse range of gatherings, from business breakfasts to its signature lobster dinner and the always popular Canada Day celebration. “These moments of connection and collaboration remind us of the value of bringing the community together, fostering professional growth, and celebrating our shared values,” the CCCH said. As the festive season approaches, the chamber wishes everyone a welldeserved period of rest and rejuvenation. Looking forward to 2025, CCCH promises a dynamic lineup of events. In addition to the business breakfasts, it plans a business forum, its traditional Canadian BBQ Dinner, Canada Day celebration, and, of course, the much-anticipated Lobster Dinner. Happy holidays and best wishes for a prosperous New Year from CCCH.

Italian Chamber of Commerce for Hungary (CCIU)

The president of the CCIU, Bernardino Pusceddu, will be a member of the jury of the Indo-European Business Excellence Awards & Summit 2025, an event dedicated to celebrating international business excellence. It will focus on sectors such as information technology, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, banking, and energy. The summit highlights innovation, sustainability, and operational excellence. Other jury members include Duncan Graham, chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce for Hungary, Norbert Revai-Bere, a foreign policy advisor at the Office of the Hungarian National Assembly, and Balazs Uzoni, global partner manager at Vodafone Intelligent Solutions. The jury will evaluate and recognize the most deserving companies, honoring achievements in innovation, positive impact, and sustainable practices. The event will emphasize the significant contributions of businesses to global economic development and the promotion of sustainable solutions. It will also provide an invaluable opportunity to strengthen economic ties between Europe and India. • When: day, March 7, 2025, noon-10 p.m. • Where: Budapest Marriott Hotel, Apáczai Csere János utca 4, Budapest 1052

Netherlands-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce (Dutcham)

Dutcham invites guests to get into the “holly-jolly spirit” at its annual Christmas drinks networker. Celebrate the closing of the year in good company with fine bites and warm beverages as you reconnect with fellow members over a cup of mulled wine and winter meals. Please note that this is a partly outside event, so wear warm clothes. Participation fee includes food and beverages consumed from 6-9 p.m.

• When: Thursday, Dec. 19, 6-9 p.m.

• Where: The Cult Terrace, Crowne Plaza Budapest, Westend Shopping Center, Váci út 1-3, Budapest 1062. • Fee: Members HUF 21,900 (+ VAT); non-members: HUF 25,900 (+ VAT)

Swiss-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce (Swisscham)

On Friday, Nov. 22, healthcare sector representatives gathered at the Millenáris during the Techxpo event to participate in the third Swiss-Hungarian Healthcare Forum, showcasing the power of partnership, innovation, and knowledge sharing between Switzerland and Hungary. With more than 100 guests, the forum focused on key topics such as public health, digitalization, innovation, and the use of healthcare data. The program featured inspiring presentations and panel discussions, with leading healthcare professionals and thought leaders from both countries sharing their insights and expertise. A highlight of the event was the signing of a cooperation agreement between Novartis Hungary and the Hungarian Foundation for the Development of Personalized Healthcare (SzEFA). The agreement aims to support the revolutionary “Dr. BetMen” digital patient journey management project developed by Roche Hungary and to expand collaboration toward creating a comprehensive, patient-centered healthcare system.

We wish all our business partners, and readers

Happy Holidays, and a peaceful, prosperous New Year