We would like to share the news of an organizational change.

Direkt36 Nonprofit Kft., which operates the Direkt36 investigative journalism center, is currently 100 percent owned by one of the founders, András Pethő, who is also the company’s managing director. However, this ownership will soon be taken over by another company, the German-registered Direkt36 gemeinnützige Unternehmergesellschaft (haftungsbeschränkt), or Direkt36 Ug for short.

This will not bring about any significant changes in the governance and ownership background of the Hungarian company, as the majority owner of the German-registered Direkt36 Ug is also András Pethő. In addition, Péter Nádori, Direkt36’s COO, and Sebastian Esser, editor-in-chief of Berlin’s Krautreporter, who has been advising Direkt36 since the beginning, also hold minority ownership.

Importantly, Direkt36 Ug, like the Hungarian company, is a non-profit. Thus, it will use its future income to achieve its public benefit goals – that is, journalistic activities – and the owners will not be able to receive dividends from it. (The German company’s article of association is available here.)

This current step is part of a long-planned transformation, during which we were guided by two goals.

On the one hand, in Hungary, independent newsrooms have been facing ever more serious threats in recent years. The current government has also taken steps that specifically aimed at making the work of these organizations impossible. By setting foot in another EU member state, Direkt36 will receive greater protection against any possible future attacks.

On the other hand, Direkt36 has long been an active participant in international journalistic cooperation. There has been serious interest in our investigative articles and films abroad. The German company will provide an opportunity to develop our international cooperation activities even more effectively in the future.