Georg Spöttle, a regular presence in pro-Orbán media, has come under scrutiny after one of his close acquaintances failed a background check—triggered by concerns over Spöttle’s Russian connections. Information obtained by Direkt36 reveals that Spöttle had a close relationship with an officer from the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.

Despite the Orbán-government’s lobbying with the Trump administration, the sanctions against the Russian bank that plays a key role in the Paks expansion remain in place. According to Direkt36 information, however, payments arounds the project have essentially stopped.

Last year, there were talks in government circles about starting building a third nuclear power plant with the French, which could have led to the insignificance of the Russian-built Paks II. Direkt36 learned new details about the Orbán government’s big power maneuvers in nuclear issues.

According to information obtained by Direkt36, prime minister Orbán said at a closed-door meeting last spring that Ukraine’s accession would increase US influence in the region. He also said that he had warned French President Emmanuel Macron about this but that he did not fully understand Orbán’s calculations.

Until last autumn, Nikolay Kosov headed the International Investment Bank, which is leaving Hungary. According to documents obtained by Direkt36, the Russian banker, who has since been hit by US sanctions, was planning to transfer his family’s assets to Dubai.

According to internal documents obtained by Direkt36, OTP closed the accounts of the International Investment Bank after the outbreak of the war. Followingly, the Russian-dominated financial institution turned to the government-close MKB to open a new account.

Internal documents obtained by Direkt36 reveal that the Hungarian government has become one of the strongest backers of the Russian-dominated International Investment Bank, which was brought to the brink of collapse by the war against Ukraine.

Direkt36 looked into the content of consultancy contracts that the Hungarian government signed last year with Klaus Mangold, an influential German businessman dubbed Mr. Russia for his Russian relations. These showed among others that he was entitled for a lucrative success fee in exchange for his assistance in the buy-back of the Budapest Airport.

Official document shows that Andrey Naryshkin, who acquired residency permit in the Hungarian golden visa scheme, had his registered home address in a property owned by pro-government businessman Shabtai Michaeli’s company just a few months ago. According to the government, Naryshkin’s residency permit was revoked by the counterintelligence service two years ago, but the case was stalled in court.

Viktor Orbán came home from his talks with Vladimir Putin saying that he did not expect war. When it did break out, there was some wavering on the continuation of the government’s pro-Russian policy, but in the end, there was no change of direction because of the importance of Russian natural gas as well as longtime anti-Western sentiments.