Vladimir Putin resurrected the International Investment Bank a few years ago to increase Russia’s influence in Central and Eastern Europe. Hungary has become one of the most active investors of the financial institution.
Continue readingViktor Orban’s government has become an enthusiastic partner in Russia’s financial expansion
It only took ten days for the Syrian dictator’s moneyman to get Hungarian residence permit
Hungarian authorities raised no objections against granting Atiya Khoury a Hungarian residence permit when he had already been on the US sanction list for supporting Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
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Heavy traffic at the stone mine of Viktor Orbán’s father reveals new details of the mysterious business operation
Many trucks carrying products of the mine belong to a company that has been winning lucrative state construction contracts in recent years.
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Company of Orbán’s son-in-law moved into a luxury villa owned by influential businessmen
The move is another sign of the increasingly close relationship between the prime minister’s family and the country’s business elite.
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Opposition politician’s businesses are thriving after he teamed up with businessmen close to Viktor Orban’s government
The company group of Gergo Czegledy who is influential within Budapest circles and his partners with links to the government won over the past years state tenders in the value of several billions of forints.
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Companies formerly involved in Hungary’s Golden Visa program now advertise new visa business in Vietnam
Advertisements about Hungarian residency through real estate investment first appeared in China, now in Vietnam. This is not a state-run program, but it is partly organised by companies that were also involved in the government’s controversial residency bond program.
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MP files criminal complaint over Hungarian residence permit of the Syrian dictator’s moneyman
The MP was informed earlier that Hungarian authorities found no risk during Atiya Khoury’s security screening.
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Orbán’s son-in-law extends his influence over major real estate company
István Tiborcz now owns more than 75 percent of the company, which has a high-value real estate portfolio, according to company records reviewed by Direkt36.
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Panama Papers expose new details in major corruption case
The so-called Eclipse scandal was one of the biggest corruption cases of the last two decades in Hungary. The new Panama Papers now reveal that a businessman with extensive connections to the government signed a consultancy contract with Eclipse through an offshore company.
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New Panama Papers Inquiry Reveals Details of Hungary’s Golden Visa Program
A businessman involved in the controversial Hungarian residence program told Mossack Fonseca that he believes the Chinese government is behind one of the companies running the scheme.
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A well-connected lawyer wins contract in Hungary’s gigantic nuclear project
Tamas Perenyei was a state secretary during the first Orban-government and he maintains friendly relations with OTP-leader Sandor Csanyi. Last year, he bought a company which now signed a contract with Rosatom.
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Company that announced new Hungarian immigration program backs down and deletes ads
The Hong Kong-based company now claims that it had not been circumspect enough. According to the government, the program is a plain lie.
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New Hungarian immigration program advertised by a businessman, previously in controversial Golden Visa scheme
A Chinese advertisement says that applicants have to invest in real estate in order to receive Hungarian papers. According to the company that advertises the new programme, everything is discussed with Hungarian authorities. However, the Immigration Office denies this.
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The U.S. is so fed up with Hungary’s passport fraud problem that it’s threatening to kick the country out of its visa waiver program
Viktor Orban and Donald Trump might be kindred spirits but there is a serious conflict between their governments over national security threats, a joint story by Direkt36 and The Washington Post has revealed.
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How we teamed up with The Washington Post to expose a secret conflict between the U.S. and Hungary
A few weeks ago we reached out to The Washington Post and told them that we are working on a story that might be of interest for them as well. It turned out that it did.
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How Viktor Orban’s government is favoring the Russians over a Hungarian company in a big business deal
Ganz won the tender with the backing of a state-owned Hungarian bank, but the deal fell through when the Hungarian government decided to redirect the loan to a group with Russian participation instead.
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The EU Anti-Fraud Office investigated irregularities reported by Direkt36
OLAF found several irregularities in the implementation of the Jeremie venture capital programme in Hungary previously reported by Direkt36 in cooperation with Forbes.
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Businessman winning state contracts watched football match with Viktor Orbán
Gábor Szentgyörgyi’s company does not even have a functioning website but it has been winning lucrative state contracts in recent years.
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Nem jött össze a hatalmas spórolás, ami az Elios-nak milliárdokat ért
Jelentős energiamegtakarítást vállalt Tiborcz István egykori cége azokban a városokban, ahol felújította a közvilágítást. Két város fogyasztási adatai alapján valamennyit javult a helyzet, de a kitűzött cél nagyon messze van, és kétséges, hogy az Elios által beszerelt lámpákkal valaha elérhető.
Continue readingThe moneyman of Bashar al-Assad received permanent residence permit in Hungary after having been put on U.S. sanction list
Hungarian authorities do not plan to carry out further investigations or to revoke the permanent residence permit of two the two Syrian men with controversial backgrounds named in the joint investigation of Direkt36 and 444. According to the Immigration Office, one of them did not buy residency bonds, contrary to what a close relative of his told Direkt36.
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