The company of Sándor Kovács signed contracts with the Russians building the Paks II nuclear power plant in the amount of almost 3 million euros. Direkt36’s report shows that recently his son has also been contracted by them.
Continue readingCategory Archives: Paks money maker
While former Fidesz politician rents properties to Rosatom, his son is paid for cleaning toilets
Sinking ground on the Paks II nuclear power plant site could further delay the project
The Hungarian authority assessing the plans of Russian Rosatom will have to make a decision whether safe construction above a fault line which is vulnerable to earthquakes is possible.
Continue reading
Inside the internal government conflict over the permit for the controversial Paks 2 nuclear power plant
Direkt36 learned that the construction permit for the Paks 2 nuclear power plant caused a conflict between two government members, László Palkovics and János Süli. Süli wanted the long-awaited green light for the project, but due to serious problems in the Russian plans identified by Palkovics’s team the government decided not to issue the permit.
Continue reading
Former Fidesz politician signs lucrative property rental contract with Russians building Paks 2
The license permit for the Paks 2 power plant expansion is still delayed but project implementer Rosatom continues to publish new related tenders. According to Direkt36 research former local Fidesz president in the town where the project is located is one of the beneficiaries.
Continue reading
Inside the conflicts surrounding the construction of Hungary’s new nuclear plant
The state authority overseeing the Paks expansion has serious concerns about the Russian construction company’s plans, which are to be approved within a few days. Direkt36’s investigation has found that political pressure on the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority grows as the government is unhappy with the authority’s process.
Continue reading
State Secretary who disagreed with a Hungarian cabinet member over Paks nuclear power plant targeted by Pegasus spyware
Attila Aszódi became a target shortly before his dismissal in 2019 at a time when he had several conflicts with the Hungarian cabinet member supervising Paks 2. The State Secretary disagreed with the measures that would have benefitted the Russian party building the new nuclear power plant and would have changed the original timetable of the project.
Continue reading
Nuclear power plant Paks 2 rescheduled to favor the Russians
After two years of negotiations, the Hungarian government adopted during the epidemic an important legal modification related to the Paks nuclear expansion. From now on, the position of the Russians will be stronger and the Hungarian state will bear higher risks.
Continue reading
Businessman linked to the Orbán family has expanded his footprint in city of Hungary’s nuclear plant
Roland Sebestyén has business relations with the family of Anikó Lévai, the wife of PM Viktor Orbán. Companies linked to him received contracts in the value of 6.2 million euros in Paks.
Continue reading
Nuclear tender that caused tension between Hungary and Russia will restart
All bidders for the almost 300 million euros public tender were disqualified.
Continue readingRussians wanting a massive Paks 2 nuclear contract eventually got pushed out
The tender for one of the most important parts of the Paks nuclear power plant was published. It concerns the control system responsible for its safe operation. According to Direkt36 this caused a big conflict between the Hungarian and Russian parties.
Continue reading
How Orbán’s chief of staff and people close to him have used luxury cars in secret
Long-term car rental is a very expensive solution but it has the advantage of keeping the client using the car in secret. Antal Rogán and his wife, as well as the former deputy mayor of a Budapest district and former wife of Árpád Habony all used this option for several years. The car renting company has won several high-value state contracts in the past years.
Continue reading
Paks 2 is facing a risky modification that could favor the Russians
The preliminary ground works could start already before the approval of the overall project plans. This contains serious risks but it would benefit the Russians who have been urging the start of the investment for a long time.
Continue reading
Paks 2: This is what it looks like when influential people are positioning themselves around the project
An association with relations across the political spectrum appeared around Paks 2 last year. It wanted to act as an intermediary during the nuclear power plant expansion, and even though influential people also showed up within the association, it failed to deliver on its plans in the end.
Continue reading
A Hungarian company came under Russian influence. Now it could receive another contract in Hungary’s nuclear project
The car rental company that is likely to be contracted by Rosatom is under the influence of a Russian bank. One of the company’s owners previously held high in a gas trading company with ties to Russia.
Continue reading
The business partner of Lorinc Meszaros is bidding for two valueable Paks 2 tenders
This is the first time that government-close business circles have appeared as bidders in Paks2-related tenders.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
How Russians forced out Hungarians from a major company of Hungary’s new nuclear project
Its managing director, Attila Szitár-Csanádi, is known as one of Rosatom’s most trusted people in Hungary. He has played an important role in a controversial decision of the University of Debrecen, which announced last year that it would give an honorary citizenship to president Putin.
Continue reading
He served as deputy state minister. Meanwhile his company earned 325 thousand euros from state owned companies
György Kozmann refused to answer questions about how he could reconcile his government position and his company’s public contracts.
Continue reading