As part of an international investigative project, Direkt36 has gained access to the lobbying files of Uber, the world’s most well-known ride-sharing company. These documents revealed that the US company’s representatives had access to Hungarian ministers and other decision-makers. In the end, however, the Orbán government turned out to be more afraid of upsetting Hungarian taxi drivers, and this was partly the reason why Uber was defeated, and eventually left Hungary.

Direkt36 presents the connection between businessman Ádám Matolcsy, the son of the issue-bank’s director, and the entrepreneur Bálint Fülöp Somlai, who also controls billionaire state tenders with exclusive photos. We also show the story of their enrichment and how their luxurious lifestyle is being helped by state businesses.

As Direkt36 exposed controversial expenditures at a publicly funded think tank ran by the son of a former PM, several officials decided to leave.

The think tank ran by Péter Antall has received lucrative support from Viktor Orbán’s government. Direkt36 has obtained internal documents about the organization’s lavish spending.

During the reconstruction of the Buda Hospital, archaeological finds from Roman times were unearthed. Civil engineering works were done by the same company that will be responsible for groundworks related to the Paks nuclear power plant expansion.

Klaus Mangold, an influential German businessman with links to the European and Russian business elites has been advising the Orbán-government for many years. His consultancy contracts obtained by Direkt36 show that Mangold has been recently focusing on deepening Hungarian-German industrial relations.

The Hungarian government started to rebuild its controversial trading house system on the Balkans – once again, with the old local partners that have good political connections.

T-Systems Hungary is one of the biggest IT companies in the country. Soon it will be owned by Gellert Jaszai, a businessman with close ties to the government.

Documents obtained by Direkt36 prove that a Georgian-Israeli businessman close to Árpád Habony was involved in the operations of VolDan, the company that sold Hungarian residency bonds in Russia.

Zsuzsa Hegedűs is the advisor of the Hungarian PM on social cohesion.
She recently got an outstanding pay-raise and she also spends the most
on representation despite her apparent inactivity.