Since Direkt36 reported based on leaked documents that a large-scale Chinese chemical trade hub would be set up in Budapest and the town of Záhony, the Orbán government has denied the plans. However, a letter sent by Orbán’s chief of staff on the matter has been withheld from the public because it is considered as “data supporting decision-making”. Direkt36 is suing the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office for the documents.
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Hungary refuses to disclose Chinese chemical hub project documents, Direkt36 sues
Hungary could become a European hub for Chinese chemicals, leaked documents reveal
According to secret plans uncovered by Direkt36, the Orbán government is close to reaching an agreement with China to transport Chinese chemicals supplying battery factories and other industries in Europe by rail through a Hungarian hub. One possible distribution center is on the outskirts of Budapest, while one of the companies involved in the project has ties to PM Orbán’s chief of staff.
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Russians demand their money in Hungary’s controversial golden visa scheme
Lawyers of bondholders told Direkt36 that hundreds of thousands of euros were stuck with the intermediary company VolDan. Meanwhile, the company’s Hungarian representative office has become unavailable, and the company is under a compulsory strike off procedure from the official registry of companies.
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How state funds help the miracle business of a top minister’s former wife
We have revealed where the money comes from for Cecília Rogán-Gaál’s tabloid’s publishing house
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The attorney became a Pegasus target when one of Hungary’s most notorious murder cases took a turn
Ilona Patócs is not the first lawyer to be targeted, despite the fact that protecting client communication is an essential part of her job, Direkt36 has learned. Nor is she the only target to have been involved in a Portik case.
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Inside Viktor Orbán’s war for Index, Hungary’s most influential news website
Index had long been a primary target for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s media crackdown. The final assault came in the disguise of a business maneuver and now the site is part of the government’s powerful media machinery.
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Inside Orbán’s Fidesz party preparing for Hungary’s parliamentary election
For some time now, all government proposals land on PM Orbán’s desk with green, yellow, or red post-its. People with inside knowledge about the election strategy of Fidesz described the ruling party’s campaign strategy for the 2022 parliamentary elections and its conscious use of social media.
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Leaked documents show how Orbán’s circle dictates the news at Hungary’s state news agency
According to internal letters obtained by Direkt36, one of Viktor Orbán’s closest colleagues once dictated a piece of news to the Hungarian Telegraph Office. There is also a separate instruction that not only the ministry’s announcements must be published practically verbatim, but also the statements of Lőrinc Mészáros’s group of companies.
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Prominent business allies of Viktor Orbán’s government had secret offshore businesses, Pandora Papers reveal
Nearly 12 million confidential documents were leaked about secret offshore companies, investigated by the world’s largest international collaboration of journalists. Direkt36 was also part of the project and revealed that influential Hungarian pro-government figures including Balázs Kertész and Gellért Jászai also had offshore interests.
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Hungarian journalist reporting on corruption surveilled with Pegasus for months
During her surveillance, Brigitta Csikász, one of Hungary’s most experienced crime reporters, wrote about the misuse of EU funds among other topics. Csikász’s investigations revealed that, despite the alarms of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), Hungarian authorities lacked either the will or the ability to prosecute the suspicious spending of EU money.
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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.
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How we exposed some of the deepest secrets of Hungary’s controversial golden visa program
Through a residency bond scheme run by the Hungarian government, several foreigners were granted residency in spite of potentially posing serious security risks for Hungary and the European Union. Blanka Zöldi recalls how we found out about these people.
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Since the closure of Hungary’s Golden Visa Program, more foreigners receive residence permits for unclear purposes
In the past two years, over 9 thousand foreigners received residence permits for “other purposes”. Most of them came from Iran, China, the United States and Russia. Hungary’s Immigration Office Claims that that it does not have any statistical data about why exactly the applicants of such permits wish to reside in Hungary.
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New Hungarian immigration program advertised by a businessman, previously in controversial Golden Visa scheme
A Chinese advertisement says that applicants have to invest in real estate in order to receive Hungarian papers. According to the company that advertises the new programme, everything is discussed with Hungarian authorities. However, the Immigration Office denies this.
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The minister had done official business with them, now his wife rents an office from their partner
Cecília Rogán chose to rent an office for her company from a businessman close to two hotel investors. Her husband, the minister used to have good official connections to them.
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