Covid Investigations

“Seller shall not undertake maintenance” – hospitals struggled with smoking, incompatible Chinese ventilators

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed unfavorable terms in a series of pricy contracts. What did hospitals do with Chinese ventilators?

PM Orbán tried to prevent hospital dramas with vaccination. In the end, he could only hide them

Despite flaws in February, how did the Hungarian government manage to present its epidemiological measures as a success in the eyes of the public? Here is the background story of Hungary’s third COVID-19 wave.

12904. Ez az anyukám – A koronavírus áldozatainak el nem mondott története

12904. That is my Mom – The untold story of the victims of the coronavirus

Nearly thirty thousand Hungarians died of coronavirus. Who were they? What happened to them from their first symptoms to their death? Article, photo gallery and a documentary film.

Orbán’s son-in-law and his associates among beneficiaries of favorable state COVID-loans

The loan for small- and medium-sized companies was announced by governor of Hungary’s Central Bank György Matolcsy at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only a few received loans as high as István Tiborcz and two of his associates.

Company with murky background is at the center of Hungary’s Chinese vaccine deal

There are more and more questions about the procurement of Chinese vaccines. One of the people behind the company supplying the vaccines is a former ice hockey player who, according to his acquaintances, works for an energy drink company and has never had a serious business before, Direkt36 found.

Government’s friends get a chance to profit from the economic downturn

Several government-close people, including a Fidesz politician, entered the liquidation market, which will likely become a profitable business following the economic impact of COVID-19, Direkt36 reports.

Inside Viktor Orbán’s slow response to the second wave of COVID19

Fidesz politicians believed in the forecast of Central Bank president György Matolcsy that the pandemic would only have a mild impact on the Hungarian economy, but GDP data showed a different reality.

How sloppy coronavirus measures pushed healthcare workers to the brink of death

12 hours in surgical masks, a lack of testing and a string of nurses falling ill. In May, coronavirus tread down a hospital in Western Hungary.

The government boasted about ventilator purchases, yet Hungary made the worst deals across the EU

Good Chinese relations didn’t bear fruit, as Hungary paid the highest price among all EU countries, international trade data show.

Iranian students expelled from Hungary during the pandemic may be able to return

Criminal charges have been dropped against the majority of the Iranian students who were expelled from Hungary in the spring for violating quarantine rules, and the Hungarian authorities have also begun to revoke their expulsion orders.