{"id":12441,"date":"2025-10-02T12:07:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T10:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/?p=12441"},"modified":"2025-10-03T12:20:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T10:20:40","slug":"itt-egy-eros-bizonyitek-arra-hogy-meszaros-lorinc-all-orban-apjanak-milliardos-epitkezese-mogott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/itt-egy-eros-bizonyitek-arra-hogy-meszaros-lorinc-all-orban-apjanak-milliardos-epitkezese-mogott\/","title":{"rendered":"L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros, the wealthy friend of Viktor Orb\u00e1n is behind a construction project of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s father"},"content":{"rendered":"

Viktor Orb\u00e1n’s longtime friend, L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros, who has become one of Hungary’s richest people in recent years, provided significant financial assistance through one of his companies to the prime minister’s father, Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n, for a major construction project, according to a confidential document obtained by Direkt36.<\/p>\n

According to the document and a source familiar with the details of the investment, M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros’s company Talentis Group Beruh\u00e1z\u00e1s-szervez\u0151 Zrt. helped Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n by providing financial coverage for a project costing 3.6 billion forints (9.2 million euros at current rate) in 2023-2024. Coverage is the amount of money that the developer must prove to have before carrying out any major construction project in Hungary. According to the document, in this case, M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros’s company agreed to provide and pay the coverage on behalf of Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n.<\/p>\n

Although the document in our possession contains little information about the investment, there are several indications that it refers to the controversial real estate complex in Hatvanpuszta, which Orb\u00e1n’s father had been building for years. Photos and other documents had shown that the estate, which the prime minister\u2019s family portrays as a modest farm building, is a property with luxurious-looking buildings and a well-maintained garden.<\/p>\n

The document refers to the investment as \u201c8087 Alcs\u00fatdoboz,\u201d presumably referring to the location of the project (8087 is the postal code of the town). The Hatvanpuszta estate is located in the immediate vicinity of Alcs\u00fatdoboz, and several sources connected to the local government and construction industry told Direkt36 that they are not aware of any other major investments worth billions made by Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n in or near the village.<\/p>\n

Other details also point to Hatvanpuszta as the location of the construction project. The document reveals that the construction work is being carried out by a company called Fej\u00e9r B.\u00c1.L. Zrt., owned by L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros and his children. One of the machines belonging to this company appeared in a photo<\/a> of the Hatvanpuszta estate published by \u00c1kos Hadh\u00e1zy, an independent member of parliament.<\/p>\n

Join the Direkt36 supporters\u2019 group and get insight into investigative journalism! Details \u2192<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

This financial transaction related to the Alcs\u00fatdoboz investment is strong evidence of the close financial ties between the prime minister’s family and L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros, who has amassed a huge fortune thanks to government decisions.<\/p>\n

M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros responded to our inquiry through a law firm. They did not answer our questions and emphasized that they do not confirm the authenticity of the document in our possession. At the same time, they pointed out that obtaining and possessing such a document may constitute a criminal offense of violating business secrets.<\/p>\n

Zal\u00e1n Nov\u00e1k, CEO of Els\u0151 Fedezetkezel\u0151 Zrt., declined to answer our questions, stating that the information we requested was classified as “payment secrets.” He also added that disclosing such information could constitute a criminal offense.<\/p>\n

Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n and Viktor Orb\u00e1n did not respond to our inquiries.<\/p>\n

Assistance to Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The document obtained by Direkt36 originates from a so-called collateral management procedure. According to the law, in construction projects in Hungary with a value of more than 2.1 billion forints (5.5 million euros), the investor is required to involve a collateral manager in the project.<\/p>\n

The investor must prove that they have the funds to carry out the project and must transfer this money to the collateral management company according to a specific schedule, from which the contractor carrying out the construction work will receive payment for their work.<\/p>\n

This practice became law at the end of 2009 to avoid a previously serious problem of contractors not receiving their money for construction projects.<\/p>\n

One of the largest companies in the Hungarian collateral management market is Els\u0151 Fedezetkezel\u0151 Zrt., a company established in early 2010. This company also managed the financial coverage for Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n’s investment, in which L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros’s companies appeared.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The document about the Fulfilment Partnership. We have covered personal data.<\/p><\/div>\n

The document in our possession is an appendix to the file on this matter. This document, entitled “Statement of Fulfiment Partner on the provision of financial cover” states that Talentis Group, owned by L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros, appears as a so-called “Fulfilment Partner” in Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n’s investment.<\/p>\n

“We, the undersigned Fulfilment Partner on the basis of an agreement concluded with the Builder wish to provide the financial cover instead of the Builder,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

states the document signed by one of Talentis’ board members, in which the term “Builder” refers to Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n.<\/p>\n

Talentis had to justify why they were paying the financial cover on behalf of Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n. The options included whether the decision was based on some kind of ownership or contractual relationship, or possibly a bank loan. M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros’s company chose the “other” option and simply wrote that it had become a fulfilment partner “with regard to ongoing business negotiations.”<\/p>\n

Neither M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros, nor Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n responded to our question what these negotiations were.<\/p>\n

It seems that M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros had a lot of trust in Orb\u00e1n’s father. The statement also says that the financial cover was provided as if it had been on behalf of Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n. The document states that the financial cover will be deposited into the account of Els\u0151 Fedezetkezel\u0151 Zrt.. Talentis also stated that they acknowledged that they “shall not be entitled to reclaim the amount(s)” and it can only be reclaimed \u201eby the Builder\u201d, that is Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n. In other words, after the money was transferred, M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros and his associates completely removed their hands from the money and transferred the right of disposal to the prime minister’s father.<\/p>\n

Join the Direkt36 supporters\u2019 group and get insight into investigative journalism! Details \u2192<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

The statement also mentions that Talentis provided the financial cover as a “cash deposit” and that they plan to replace the cash later “partially or fully with a bank guarantee.” We asked Talentis what this meant in practice but they did not answer our question.<\/p>\n

Unusual solution<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Several sources familiar with the construction industry and collateral management consider this entire arrangement unusual. “I’ve never heard anything like this,” said a construction contractor when we outlined to him, without naming specific parties, that a company independent of the investor on paper would be involved in providing financial cover as a fulfilment partner.<\/p>\n

Legal experts found it strange that someone would receive assistance from a company when there was no official ownership relationship between them. They also considered it unusual that the same company appears on both sides of the transaction. In this case, one of M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros’s companies is providing financial cover for a construction project that is being carried out by another of his interests, Fej\u00e9r B.\u00c1.L.. Between the two companies is Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n, who, at least according to the documents, does not have to take any financial risk, while the investment is being carried out in his interest.<\/p>\n

When we described the arrangement to a lawyer working with contracts like these without naming the specific parties involved, he did not understand how this could be possible at first.<\/p>\n

“Let’s think about it: the contractor and the developer agree that if the developer fails to pay the contractor for some reason, the contractor will pay himself the fee? Should I take on the job and then pay myself? What’s the point of that?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

asked the lawyer.<\/p>\n

Projects for billions of forints<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The document we obtained was dated in 2023, and according to a source familiar with the details of the transaction, the planned construction began in May of that year and was scheduled for completion at the end of June 2024. According to the source, the planned value of the project was 3.6 billion forints.<\/p>\n

\"\"

A fence and tarpaulin cover one of the entrances to the estate in Hatvanpuszta. Photo: Direkt36<\/p><\/div>\n

There is no information about the exact nature of the work, but if the transaction was indeed related to the construction in Hatvanpuszta, construction was in progress there at the time. Therefore, the document in our possession presumably refers to a phase of the developments that have been going on there for years.<\/p>\n

In November 2023, Guly\u00e1s\u00e1gy\u00fa M\u00e9dia reported that they had observed “significant construction activity” in the area, and their video showed a new building<\/a> under construction on the estate.\u00a0 Half a year later, footage taken by independent MP \u00c1kos Hadh\u00e1zy in collaboration with the news outlet showed that a new structure had been built<\/a> in the middle of the estate, with a greenhouse on top.<\/p>\n

Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n’s estate in Hatvanpuszta, which he purchased through one of his companies in 2011, had previously been linked to L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros. In response to a question from \u00c1tl\u00e1tsz\u00f3, M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros said in 2012 that he was renting the land from the prime minister’s father<\/a> to store his equipment.\u00a0 Journalist Krisztina Ferenczi also wrote in her book Narancsb\u0151r that M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros paid Orb\u00e1n’s company the rent for ten years in advance.<\/p>\n

The transformation of the estate began around 2019. At the time, \u00c1kos Hadh\u00e1zy published aerial photographs of the construction, and two years later, the media outlet HVG spotted construction equipment belonging to one of M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros’ companies, M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros M1 Aut\u00f3keresked\u0151 Kft.<\/p>\n

Viktor Orb\u00e1n has repeatedly stated that the estate does not belong to him, but to his father, and that his wife, Anik\u00f3 L\u00e9vai, only goes to Hatvanpuszta when his father asks her to. The prime minister tried to describe the estate as insignificant, referring to it as a farm in one of his statements.\u00a0 However, the energy certificates for the buildings revealed that the larger wing of the building complex was registered as a residential building<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A

One of the buildings on the Hatvanpuszta estate. Photo: Direkt36<\/p><\/div>\n

Direkt36 journalists also visited Hatvanpuszta one day in September, but there was no significant activity around the estate at the time, and we did not see the prime minister’s father or any other family members there.<\/p>\n

We also went to Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n’s quarry in G\u00e1nt. There, one of the workers initially denied that the prime minister’s father was on site, but during the conversation, Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n suddenly appeared.<\/p>\n

After we introduced ourselves to him, he simply said, “My dears, I don’t receive visitors without an appointment; you need to make an appointment in advance by email.” We told him that we wanted to ask him about the investment in Hatvanpuszta, but he told us to leave because it was private property. Then he went back to the office building at the entrance of the quarry.<\/p>\n

He has not responded to an email message that had been sent several days before this article was published.<\/p>\n

Join the Direkt36 supporters\u2019 group and get insight into investigative journalism! Details \u2192<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Illustration: P\u00e9ter Somogyi (szarvas) \/ Telex<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Direkt36 has obtained a document indicating that L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros provided significant financial assistance to Gy\u0151z\u0151 Orb\u00e1n. There are several indications that this assistance was related to the controversial estate in Hatvanpuszta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":12449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-telex.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[856,862,857,861,858,843,222,258,259,859,860],"ppma_author":[522,539],"aioseo_notices":[],"fimg_url":["https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lolo_gyozo_uradalom.jpg",2250,1500,false],"authors":[{"term_id":522,"user_id":19,"is_guest":0,"slug":"andraspetho","display_name":"Andr\u00e1s Peth\u0151","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Petho-Andras.png","url2x":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Petho-Andras.png"},"author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"Peth\u0151","first_name":"Andr\u00e1s","job_title":"","description":"[:hu]Andr\u00e1s a Direkt36 egyik alap\u00edt\u00f3ja, szerkeszt\u0151je \u00e9s \u00fcgyvezet\u0151 igazgat\u00f3ja. Kor\u00e1bban az Origo vezet\u0151 szerkeszt\u0151je volt, miel\u0151tt a port\u00e1l r\u00e9sze lett a korm\u00e1ny propagandag\u00e9pezet\u00e9nek. Andr\u00e1s dolgozott a BBC World Service-n\u00e9l Londonban \u00e9s a Washington Post t\u00e9nyfelt\u00e1r\u00f3 rovat\u00e1n\u00e1l is. R\u00e9szt vett sz\u00e1mos nagy nemzetk\u00f6zi nyomoz\u00f3 projektben, k\u00f6zt\u00fck a Panama-iratok feldolgoz\u00e1s\u00e1ban. K\u00e9tszer is elnyerte a legjobbnak \u00edt\u00e9lt t\u00e9nyfelt\u00e1r\u00f3 cikkek szerz\u0151inek j\u00e1r\u00f3 Soma-d\u00edjat. T\u00f6bbsz\u00f6r tanult \u00f6szt\u00f6nd\u00edjjal az Egyes\u00fclt \u00c1llamokban: 2008-ban a World Press Institute programj\u00e1ban, 2012-13-ban Humphrey-\u00f6szt\u00f6nd\u00edjask\u00e9nt a Marylandi Egyetemen, 2019-20-ban pedig Nieman-\u00f6szt\u00f6nd\u00edjask\u00e9nt a Harvard Egyetemen. Andr\u00e1s t\u00f6bb magyar egyetemen is tan\u00edtott \u00fajs\u00e1g\u00edr\u00f3 kurzusokat.[:en]Andr\u00e1s is a co-founder, editor and executive director of Direkt36. Previously, he was a senior editor for leading Hungarian news site Origo before it had been transformed into the government\u2019s propaganda outlet. He also worked for the BBC World Service in London and was a reporter at the investigative unit of The Washington Post. He has contributed to several international reporting projects, including The Panama Papers. He twice won the Soma Prize, the prestigious annual award dedicated to investigative journalism in Hungary. He was a World Press Institute fellow in 2008, a Humphrey fellow at the University of Maryland in 2012\/13, and a Nieman fellow at Harvard University in 2019\/20. Andr\u00e1s has taught journalism courses at Hungarian universities.[:]"},{"term_id":539,"user_id":32,"is_guest":0,"slug":"kamilla","display_name":"Kamilla Marton","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Marton-Kamilla.png","url2x":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Marton-Kamilla.png"},"author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"Marton","first_name":"Kamilla","job_title":"","description":"[:hu]Kamilla a Budapesti Metropolitan Egyetemen diplom\u00e1zott kommunik\u00e1ci\u00f3- \u00e9s m\u00e9diatudom\u00e1ny szakon, majd szakm\u00e1j\u00e1t a Direkt36-n\u00e1l kezdte junior \u00fajs\u00e1g\u00edr\u00f3k\u00e9nt. F\u0151k\u00e9nt az underground szubkult\u00far\u00e1k \u00e9s a t\u00e1rsadalmi egyenl\u0151tlens\u00e9gek kultur\u00e1lis h\u00e1ttere \u00e9rdeklik. 2023-ban a k\u00f3rh\u00e1zi fert\u0151z\u00e9sek eltitkolt helyzet\u00e9t felt\u00e1r\u00f3 cikksorozat\u00e1\u00e9rt Wirth Zsuzsann\u00e1val k\u00f6z\u00f6sen elnyerte a Transparency-Soma d\u00edjat. Szereti az extr\u00e9m sportokat.[:en]Kamilla graduated from the Budapest Metropolitan University in Communication and Media Science. She started her career at Direkt36 as a junior journalist. She is mainly interested in the cultural background of underground subcultures and social inequalities. In 2023, she won the Transparency-Soma award together with Zsuzsanna Wirth for her series of articles exposing the hidden situation of hospital-acquired infections. 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