In May 2025, the deputy chief financial officer of Lőrinc Mészáros’s construction company, V-Híd Zrt., urgently informed his colleagues that they had received a letter from the mining company owned by Győző Orbán, the father of the former prime minister. The letter requested payment of an invoice totaling 766,5 million forints, equivalent to 2,1 million euros at today’s exchange rate.

“Please transfer the funds. Thanks,” the management approved. The amount was transferred that very same day.

Dolomit Kft. received the money for the sale and storage of 86,000 tons of crushed stone – used for railway constructions – purchased for the expansion of the M1 highway in Hungary.

Three months later, Viktor Orbán’s father’s company sent invoices to V-Híd again. The total amount of these invoices exceeded 3,5 million euros. With the exception of one invoice amounting around 98 000 euro, all the invoices listed the prices of materials delivered for the highway expansion.

These documents are part of the files obtained by Direkt36 that detail the internal operations of V-Híd, a company that won several high-value government contracts under the Orbán-government. Based on these documents, we previously reported on how the company supported Megafon, an organization that ran social media campaigns supporting Fidesz, and on the enormous amount of money the company spent on luxury trips abroad.

444 had previously reported that trucks hauled stone from the mine owned by former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s father for the expansion of the M1 highway. Now documents obtained by Direkt36 have revealed numerous new details about these supplier contracts. Based on documents detailing V-Híd’s internal operations, Dolomit Kft. generated at least 6,3 million euros in revenue solely from its participation in the M1 highway expansion.

The documents in our possession reveal that Orbán’s father received many contracts—including some previously unknown—from V-Híd.

These included bridge construction projects in Budapest, the development of  train stations, the construction of the National Athletics Center and numerous regional railway lines. We also found out new details about Orbán’s company’s involvement in the construction of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line (about which 444 had previously uncovered information).

Help us tell the truth in Hungary! Become a supporter now and you’ll get insight into our work!

Documents obtained by Direkt36 reveal that Győző Orbán’s mining companies have sold or delivered at least 400,000 tons of stone nationwide for V-Híd’s projects over the past seven years. The value of the documented contracts and payments totals nearly 10,4 million euros.

According to previous analyses, Dolomit Kőbányászati Kft., based in Gánt, Hungary has been generating exceptionally high profits compared to its competitors for years. According to a 2022 article in G7, Dolomit Kft.’s profits in some years were two to three times higher than those of other companies operating in the same sector. Last year, the company’s revenue exceeded 16,1 million euros, and nearly half of that—6,8 million euros—was paid out as dividends.

This summer, Budapest Police Department launched an investigation on suspicion of embezzlement regarding contracts between the companies of Győző Orbán and Lőrinc Mészáros, which former independent Member of Parliament Ákos Hadházy had publicized, citing overpricing.

Dolomit Kft. is not Győző Orbán’s only mining company: the much smaller Gánt Kő Kft. is also operating profitably. Previously, the transportation company Nehéz Kő Kft. was also owned by the former prime minister’s father, but he sold the company five years ago. Before the sale, this company also had contracts with V-Híd for state-funded projects, such as the Ercsi-Pusztaszabolcs and Debrecen-Füzesabony railway lines, and it also transported stone for the construction of the National Athletics Center stadium.

We contacted V-Híd Zrt. and Győző Orbán’s companies, but we did not receive a response to our questions from them.

Hidden Contracts

Information had been published previously – including investigations by Direkt36 – stating that the Orbán-mines had profited from state investments under the Fidesz governments since 2010. These contracts did not appear in public databases because Orbán’s father’s companies typically participated in these projects as suppliers or minor subcontractors.

Documents obtained regarding the internal operations of V-Híd show a more complete picture of Győző Orbán’s companies’ participation in state projects.

Győző Orbán’s companies were involved in several railway projects in Pest and Fejér counties. The documents we obtained reveal that his companies supplied stone for the renovation of the tracks between Ercsi and Pusztaszabolcs and between Kelenföld and Százhalombatta, as well as for the reconstruction of the Bicske train station.

According to the documents, stone was also sold near Debrecen —located 300 kilometers from Gánt on the other side of the country—for two railway development projects related to the expansion of BMW’s factory. The value of these contracts exceeded 2,1 million euros.

Stones were also ordered for the Budapest–Belgrade railway project from the company owned by the former prime minister’s father. Two years ago, 444 reported that construction materials were shipped from the Orbán family’s mine for the line’s renovation.

Now, further details have been revealed about the Orbán-mine’s involvement in the massive investment. According to a 2023 bank account statement, V-Híd transferred an amount equivalent to 821 500 euros to Dolomit for the purchase of crushed stone. Three years earlier, they had requested a proposal from Dolomit for 300,000 tons of stone, totaling 4,1 million euros. However, it was not clear from the documents whether this offer was actually accepted and paid.

Győző Orbán’s company was also contracted to handle transportation: according to a 2021 contract, Lőrinc Mészáros’s railroad construction company paid 178 600 euros for the delivery of the stone.

Győző Orbán’s companies have continued to receive contracts from V-Híd in recent years. Stone from the Gánt mine was used for the railway development project linked to the Iváncsa battery factory. In 2025, V-Híd ordered stone from the mining company totaling nearly 164 000 euros for the construction.

Help us tell the truth in Hungary! Become a supporter now and you’ll get insight into our work!

Stones from the Orbán family’s mines also made their way to Budapest. Stone worth nearly 35 200 euros was shipped from Gánt for the expansion of the line between Keleti Railway Station and Kőbánya Felső. Győző Orbán’s companies supplied stone worth more than 190 700 euros for the construction of two bridges in Budapest: the Déli Összekötő railway bridge running alongside the Rákóczi Bridge and the Kvassay Bridge connecting Csepel Island with Ferencváros.

The companies also transported stone to the National Athletics Center, built for the 2023 World Athletics Championships: V-Híd signed a contract with two of Győző Orbán’s companies worth nearly 81 300 euros.

Annual contracts between Mészáros’ and Orbán’s companies

Founded in 2015, V-Híd Zrt. initially focused on railroad track construction. It came under the partial ownership of Lőrinc Mészáros’s then-son-in-law, Zsolt Homlok, and István Sárváry (former deputy state secretary for cultural development) a few years after its establishment. With the new owners, the company’s revenues skyrocketed. While V-Híd did not even record 5,4 million euros in revenue in 2016, a year later it generated nearly 4,1 million euros in profit on 65 million euros in revenue.

The company eventually came under Mészáros’s ownership in 2018, after which it grew into one of the country’s largest construction firms. The company, which consistently won government contracts, generated more than 515 million euros in revenue by 2024.

Documents leaked to Direkt36 also reveal that V-Híd planned its purchases from Dolomit in advance almost every year. Since at least 2021, the two companies have signed framework agreements for the sale of materials year after year, which means that the construction company planned to purchase materials from the mine at a predetermined price for those specific years. These contracts also reveal how much the mine charges for the materials needed for construction projects.

Previously, Direkt36 revealed that the company owned by Győző Orbán occasionally sold its products at prices 60–70 percent higher than its competitors, and it was already clear at that time that the goods were also being supplied for state-funded projects—meaning they were being paid for with public funds.

Ákos Hadházy, a former independent member of the Parliament, published a framework agreement for the sale of materials between V-Híd and Dolomit Kft. this past June, valid from March 2025 through March 2026. “According to the experts I consulted, while some items are not outrageously expensive, there are also products that Orbán can supply at double the price,” wrote Hadházy, who also published additional price lists showing that the same products are sold cheaper at other mines.

After Hadházy made the contract public, Transparency International Hungary filed a complaint, and Budapest Police Department launched an investigation on suspicion of embezzlement.

According to József Péter Martin, executive director of Transparency International Hungary, it should be considered a conflict of interest for the prime minister’s father’s company to profit in any way—even as a supplier—from government construction projects. However, this is not prohibited by law in Hungary.

“Hungarian regulations are very weak in this area, but it appears that the government have now begun to address issues of conflict of interest,”

said Martin, citing as an example a proposal by Interior Minister Gábor Pósfai that would ban high-ranking politicians from leading big sports clubs.

“Even if Orbán’s father’s involvement in a state construction project doesn’t violate any laws, the public perception of it is still very negative because it immediately raises suspicions of corruption,” said Martin.

The construction company’s contracts didn’t disappear even after the change in government, as it had dominated the railway construction market completely. Átlátszó reported that V-Híd Vagyonkezelő Kft., owned by V-Híd Zrt., was the sole bidder and thus winner without competition of a public procurement contract worth 821 000 euros for rail welding work.

Dávid Vitézy, Minister of Transportation and Investment, considered it problematic that only this one company submitted a bid. “In recent years, genuine competition has practically ceased to exist in this market,” the minister wrote, adding that he had requested a report on the matter from the MÁV and GySEV railway companies. The CEO of GySEV confirmed Vitézy’s statement. “V-Híd Zrt. is effectively the sole operator with available capacity on the Hungarian market,” he wrote in the report.

Illustration: Péter Somogyi (szarvas) / Telex

Pierre Romera Zhang, member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, assisted with the technical processing of the documents cited in this article via the Datashare platform.

We used the Opten service to access Hungarian company data.