Top Expat CEOs in Hungary 2025 is a special publication of the Budapest Business Journal • EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Robin Marshall • CONTRIBUTORS: Annamária Bálint, Robin Marshall, Bernadette Oláh, Erika Törsök • NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES: Should be submitted in English to news@bbj.hu • LAYOUT: Zsolt Pataki • PUBLISHER: Tamás Botka, Business Publishing Services Kft. • ADVERTISING: AMS Services Kft. • CEO: Balázs Román • SALES: sales@bbj.hu • CIRCULATION AND SUBSCRIPTIONS: circulation@bbj.hu • Address: Madách Trade Center, 1075 Budapest, Madách Imre út 13-14. • Telephone +36 (1) 398-0344, www.budapestbusinessjournal.com • ISSN 2631-0937
Foreword
Imagine a person stepping into their first CEO position on Jan. 1, 2020. They felt prepared, ready for all the role could throw at them. They were part of the C-suite team that had navigated the company through the Global Financial Crisis and the Great Recession of the late noughties. They had done their reading and learned the lessons of Kodak, the once-dominant photographic and film company that failed to respond to the rise of new technologies and went into bankruptcy protection in 2012. It came out of that in 2013 but is a shadow of its former self.
By the end of their first month in that new role, our freshman CEO had attended their first CEO Gala in the Grand Ball Room of the Corinthia Hotel Budapest and was hearing about something called COVID-19, a highly infectious disease that the World Health Organization had flagged as of “international concern.” By March 11, WHO had declared a pandemic. On March 15, the first death from COVID was reported in Hungary; travel restrictions, lockdowns and stay-at-home orders were around the proverbial corner.
Dealing with COVID-19 was incredibly challenging, but the good news for our CEO was that this was the case for every business leader. COVID, we were told endlessly in what became the most overused word of 2020, was “unprecedented.” This was a once-in-a-century event. It was tough, but by January 2021, on the first anniversary of taking up their post, our CEO could feel some satisfaction that we were nearer the end than the beginning. Some important lessons were learned, not least that staff could be trusted to work from home, but creativity also needs community. There was a balance to be found there.
By November 2021, there were reports of Russian forces building up on the border with Ukraine. U.S. intelligence services took the unusual step of publicly stating that Russia
planned to ramp up the fighting that had been going on in the east of Ukraine since 2014 and warned an incursion was imminent. On Feb. 22, 2022, Russia launched its full-scale invasion. The return of large-scale warfare on the European continent was disturbing, especially for any business with branches and colleagues in that country. But if our CEO were based in Poland or Romania, they would have been much more personally concerned than if they were in Portugal or America. Until, that is, the price of energy started to head north wherever you were in the world. Consider these figures for Hungary, where our CEO is based: Before the war, the net energy bill of the Hungarian economy was EUR 4 bln-5 bln; in 2022, it jumped to EUR 17 bln; in 2023, it was EUR 9 bln; in 2024, it was about EUR 7 bln. Now, our CEO had to start working on an accelerated plan to bring in energy efficiency.
On Jan. 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump was inaugurated for his second presidential term. The weeks since have been a whirlwind. As one of our speakers at the most recent CEO Boardroom roundtable put it: “We are flying in a very turbulent environment again.” Our other speaker noted that America had been one of the originators of a predictable, stable, rule-based world order, “and this has changed.”
Today, we should count on the “unexpected unexpectable.” Now in their fifth year in the role, it does not seem that life is about to get any easier for our CEO any time soon. Like everyone featured in this magazine, they are earning every cent (or fillér) of their salary.
Robin Marshall Editor-in-chief Budapest Business Journal
Hipa Recognizes Best Investors of the Year
Several Hungarian enterprises were recognized as top-achieving members of the local investor community at the “Investors of the Year 2024” gala, organized by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency. The event, held at the Museum of Fine Arts in February, highlighted the nation’s economic achievements and strategic goals for the future.
By Bence Gaál
In his opening remarks, István Joó, CEO of Hipa and the government commissioner for investment promotion and implementation of large FDI projects, emphasized the organization’s commitment to the government’s recently announced “100 New Factories Program.”’ He acknowledged the challenges of the past year but underscored the agency’s accomplishments.
“We are especially proud of last year’s achievement of EUR 10.3 billion [in investment],” he said, noting that this served as a worthy milestone for Hipa’s 10th anniversary.
Looking ahead, he outlined the agency’s priorities, including strengthening the economies of Hungary’s southern counties, enhancing supplier relationships, and increasing research and development projects. He also highlighted a new objective to ensure that support for R&D results in patents registered in Hungary.
“To achieve our goals, we will significantly modify our support system to best serve the growth of the Hungarian economy,” Joó told his audience.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó spoke about Hungary’s resilience in the face of global challenges, including the financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine.
“We keep breaking employment records, and 2024 was the second most successful year in Hungarian economic history in terms of investment promotion,” Szijjártó said.
He noted that Hungary’s stability and favorable business environment led to 77 new projects in 2024,
generating EUR 10.3 bln (more than HUF 4 trillion) in investments and creating 18,500 new jobs.
Hipa also supported a record number of investment projects by Hungarian companies, which Szijjártó described as a “strategic success,” given that few local firms met the criteria for investment promotion a decade ago.
Szijjártó also referenced ongoing geopolitical developments, stating that negotiations between the United States and Russia have raised hopes for peace in Central Europe after three turbulent years. This, he said, could significantly boost economic performance in the region.
COMING ONLINE
Additionally, several large-scale investments, including BMW’s state-ofthe-art iFactory in Debrecen (233 km east of Budapest by road) and BYD’s plant in Szeged (175 km southeast of the capital), are expected to come online this year.
“The foundations are in place for 2025 to be the year of breakthrough,” Szijjártó declared, linking the outlook to the “100 New Factories Program,” which aims to maintain full employment and economic stability for Hungarian families.
The gala featured the presentation of awards in seven different categories, with several Hungarian winners.
Videoton Holding Zrt. was recognized as “Best Supplier.” With more than 85 years of history and operations across nine sites in Hungary, plus one in Bulgaria, the company has established itself as one of this country’s most valuable domesticallyowned manufacturers. Its workforce of nearly 8,500 people enables it to provide industrial partners with services ranging from electronics and component production to complex assembly and pilot projects.
The “Best Industrial Park” award was given to the Miskolc Municipality and Miskolc Holding Zrt. Originally spanning 68.5 hectares when it received industrial park status in 2005, the Miskolc Industrial Park (190 km northeast of Budapest) has since expanded to cover
Hungarian CEOs Increasingly Confident in World Economy, but Cautious on own Expectations
According to the results of PwC’s 14th Hungarian CEO Survey, released at the end of February, 70% of local bosses expect an acceleration of global economic growth, 60% are optimistic about the Hungarian economy, but only 39% expressed confidence about the development of their companies.
A BBJ LONG READ
CEO Boardroom: ‘Known Unknowns’ and the ‘Unexpected Unexpectable’
When we planned our February 2025 CEO Boardroom Meeting, we knew there would be so much ground to cover in our roundtable that we had to summon some top analytical minds. Barnabás Virág, deputy governor of the National Bank of Hungary, and Rezső Rózsai, country managing partner of KPMG Hungary, did not disappoint. Themes covered included the Hungarian, European and global economies, GDP growth, inflation, the euro exchange rate, investment uncertainty, U.S. tariffs, energy costs, monetary policy, inflation management and the “4D” megatrends of demographics, debt, disruptive technologies and deglobalization. What follows are highlights of our conversation, edited for length. Robin Marshall, editor-in-chief of the Budapest Business Journal, moderated the roundtable.
Robin Marshall: Government expectations in the 2025 budget are for GDP growth of 3.4% in 2025 and annual inflation of 3.2%. The EC has forecast Hungary’s GDP growth at 1.8% in 2025. The OECD’s expectation is 2.1% in 2025. Barnabás, you represent the National Bank of Hungary; what are your predictions for this year for GDP, inflation and the EUR-HUF exchange rate?
Barnabás Virág: I think one key conclusion from these forecasts is that the uncertainty regarding the future
is pretty large nowadays. We have to talk about the megatrends shaping the world economy. Let me mention just one number. The average economic growth in the world economy in this decade was 2.6%; in the previous decade, it was 3.9%, and the average growth of the world economy since the Second World War was also near to 4%, so it’s clear that something has changed in this decade.
And it’s a general issue, not only in the European economy. We can see very similar numbers, for example, in Asia. The average
growth in China since the Second World War was more than 8%, and now the forecast says the gross performance of the Chinese economy could be 4.5%, so it’s very clear that something has changed relative to the previous decades.
I want to mention four factors behind this phenomenon. These are the four Ds: demography, debt, disruptive technologies, and deglobalization. The demographic trend started to deteriorate in many countries. This is the first time in human history that the labor supply
