Last summer, the government justified the sale of several state-owned defense companies to 4iG by arguing that \u201cthere is a need for a defense industry operating on a market basis.\u201d They also emphasized that selling these state-owned companies was beneficial because 4iG would be able to \u201cmore easily secure the capital needed\u201d for development.<\/p>\n
In reality, however, the opposite happened during this period. According to the investigation by Direkt36, 4iG actually received significant funding\u2014amounting to tens of billions of forints\u2014partly in secret, from the state, i.e. from taxpayers\u2019 money, during the privatization process.<\/p>\n
According to documents obtained by Direkt36, the state-owned Eximbank and another state-backed investment firm, Sz\u00e9chenyi Funds, together invested a total of 37 billion forints (\u20ac112 million) into a private equity fund linked to 4iG chairman Gell\u00e9rt J\u00e1szai. This financial transaction took place secretly in May last year.<\/p>\n
Just over a week later, in mid-May, 4iG gained access to even more funding through a state tender. In this tender, a state-owned company entrusted the management of its 50-billion-forint (approximately \u20ac123 million) defense development fund to one of J\u00e1szai\u2019s fund management companies. That company then placed the money into another private equity fund linked to J\u00e1szai.<\/p>\n
In August last year, these two private equity funds connected to J\u00e1szai injected the tens of billions of forints they had received into one of 4iG\u2019s subsidiaries, 4iG SDT. This was the company that, under purchase agreements signed in October, acquired a majority stake in several Hungarian state-owned defense firms for 72 billion forints (around \u20ac185 million), and later also bought stakes in additional defence companies through separate transactions.<\/p>\n
In other words, 4iG used funds from one pocket to buy the state-owned defense companies, while the state was channeling a roughly similar amount of money into its other pocket.<\/p>\n
The matter died down after the press conference, and Magyar did not speak about it publicly afterward.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of National Economy, which oversaw the defense privatization, did not respond to our questions, including why the state provided taxpayer funds to 4iG while it was buying defense assets from the state. Following the publication of our article, they stated in a letter that \u201cthe acquisition by 4iG was primarily financed through a market-based loan consortium comprising both commercial and state-owned banks, and was not linked to any government or state decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
4iG did not provide substantive answers to our detailed questions, but they emphasized that, alongside state funds, private capital was also involved in the transactions.<\/p>\n
The Sz\u00e9chenyi Funds stated that \u201ceconomic and financial considerations\u201d motivated their investment in the J\u00e1szai-linked private equity fund, adding that they have since \u201cexited,\u201d meaning they are no longer investors in the fund. Eximbank did not respond to our questions.<\/p>\n
Within just a few years, 4iG has become one of Hungary\u2019s largest companies, with its growth repeatedly supported by Hungarian state institutions through funding, legislation, and regulatory decisions. As previously revealed by Direkt36<\/a>, Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n considers the company so important that there have even been instances where he personally negotiated aspects of its ostensibly private business deals.<\/p>\n Originally focused on IT and telecommunications, the corporate group spun off its space and defense industry division into a subsidiary called 4iG SDT at the beginning of 2024.<\/p>\n On May 14 last year, an agreement was reached under which the state-owned Hungarian Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) and the also state-owned Sz\u00e9chenyi Funds (SZTA) provided substantial funding to 4iG.<\/p>\n The contract obtained by Direkt36 shows that Eximbank contributed \u20ac74.46 million (around 30 billion forints), while the Private Equity Fund for Economic Development managed by Sz\u00e9chenyi Funds invested \u20ac17.5 million (roughly 7 billion forints) into the Ig Tech II private equity fund linked to Gell\u00e9rt J\u00e1szai. Thanks to this state funding, the registered capital of Ig Tech II grew from 8 billion to 45 billion forints (from \u20ac20 million to \u20ac112 million).<\/p>\n The Ig Tech II fund, established in 2021, invests in various space, satellite telecommunications, and digitalization ventures. It can be thought of as a large pool of money waiting to be invested. That is why the fund has a management company, which decides where the money is invested.<\/p>\n J\u00e1szai\u2019s fund management company declined to answer our questions about the state investment, citing business confidentiality. 4iG stated that not only state actors contributed to the fund\u2014one of their newly established subsidiaries is also an investor in Ig Tech II.<\/p>\n One of the state companies involved in the transaction, Eximbank, is currently under the supervision of the Ministry of National Economy and officially helps Hungarian companies access foreign markets.<\/p>\n Sz\u00e9chenyi Funds previously fell under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, but at the end of 2021, the state transferred it free of charge to the foundation maintaining \u00d3buda University. Technically, this removed it from government supervision, but the connection remained. The company continues to manage investment funds into which the Hungarian state largely invests.<\/p>\n Direkt36 has previously documented several cases in which SZTA secretly provided financial support to government-connected business circles. In 2021, SZTA provided \u20ac200 million in state funding to 4iG<\/a>, which helped the telecommunications company continue its expansion.<\/p>\n We also previously reported that SZTA provided \u20ac45 million<\/a> to finance the acquisition of Euronews by a government-linked Portuguese businessman.<\/p>\n Just a week after the two state-owned companies invested in the Ig Tech II fund, J\u00e1szai secured significant state funding through another route.<\/p>\n In April last year, NTH Nemzeti T\u0151keholding Zrt. under the Ministry of National Economy, announced a public tender. This company was originally created to make state-backed investment funds operate more efficiently.<\/p>\n In the tender, NTH Nemzeti T\u0151keholding Zrt. was looking for a manager for its state-owned fund with 50 billion forints (\u20ac123 million) in capital. According to the announcement, the state fund\u2019s goal was to support the development of Hungary\u2019s domestic defense industry. The tender required the winner to also attract private funding, in exchange for which they would have control over the state fund\u2019s 50 billion forints.<\/p>\n J\u00e1szai had a strong chance in this tender. One of the application requirements was experience in defense and\/or space industry investments. Judit Zeisler, policy director at Transparency International Hungary, noted that this criteria narrowed the competition, as few could meet it. In the end, in May last year, J\u00e1szai\u2019s fund management company won the tender. Zeisler previously reported this in an article for 24.hu<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Following the announcement of the result, the state fund was merged into a newly established private equity fund linked to J\u00e1szai, which was named Ig Tech III. With this, the state fund\u2019s \u20ac123 million capital went to Ig Tech III.<\/p>\n The matter died down after the press conference, and Magyar did not speak about it publicly afterward.<\/p>\n NTH Nemzeti T\u0151keholding Zrt., which issued the tender, did not provide substantive answers to our questions about how the winner was selected or whether there were other applicants.<\/p>\n Last summer, after extensive preparation, the Hungarian government launched a massive defense industry privatization. As the first phase of the privatization, the Hungarian state sold the majority of its stake in several defense companies as a single package. The agreement was announced in June last year, and after the details were finalized, the contract was signed in October. According to the deal, a subsidiary of 4iG, 4iG Space and Defense Technologies (4iG SDT), acquired stakes in six Hungarian defense companies. The total purchase price for the portfolio was a net 72.1 billion forints (around \u20ac185 million).<\/p>\n Additional privatization deals were also negotiated. For example, in September last year, it was announced that 4iG SDT would acquire a majority stake in R\u00e1ba Vehicle Industry Holding from the Hungarian state in the following months for 25 billion forints (\u20ac64 million). R\u00e1ba is one of the key players in Hungarian military vehicle production.<\/p>\n By the second half of last year, 4iG had become a shareholder in multiple Hungarian defense companies. The combined value of these deals exceeded 100 billion forints. The exact amount is unclear because not all transactions disclosed how much was paid for each company\u2019s stake.<\/p>\n In parallel with the announcement of these transactions, 4iG, which participated in the privatizations, also gained access to state funds.<\/p>\n In August last year, 4iG announced in a statement that the two private equity funds linked to J\u00e1szai, Ig Tech II and Ig Tech III, would inject a total of 96 billion forints (around \u20ac250 million) in multiple tranches into 4iG SDT. These were the same two private equity funds into which the state had invested tens of billions of forints a few months earlier.<\/p>\n 4iG explained this step by stating that the money would be used, among other things, \u201cto finance projects in industries connected to the Hungarian defense sector.\u201d<\/p>\n Documents obtained by Direkt36 indicate that the decision on how to use the state funds was made much earlier, in May last year. A contract we obtained between Ig Tech II and the state investors from May 2025 specified that the fund would invest the state money into 4iG SDT.<\/p>\n 4iG SDT has sought to expand not only domestically but also internationally. The company has formed partnerships with, among others, the leading manufacturer of tactical unmanned aerial systems, the Israeli company Aeronautics, as well as the missile technology and artillery division of the American firm Lockheed Martin.<\/p>\n The defense industry is expected to become even more important in the future, offering significant opportunities for 4iG. Last May, the European Union approved the SAFE (Security Action for Europe) defense development loan framework. Under this program, the Hungarian government could potentially get up to \u20ac16.2 billion. So far, the European Commission has approved applications from 18 out of 19 eligible countries, with Hungary not yet among them.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" According to documents obtained by Direkt36, state funds were secretly directed to a company called 4iG. This happened at the very time when the government decided to sell state-owned defense companies to this firm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":13003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[458],"tags":[461,798,482,651,894],"ppma_author":[771,522],"aioseo_notices":[],"fimg_url":["https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4ig_direkt.jpg",2250,1500,false],"authors":[{"term_id":771,"user_id":36,"is_guest":0,"slug":"szopko-zita","display_name":"Zita Szopk\u00f3","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Szopko-Zita-n-scaled.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Szopko-Zita-n-scaled.jpeg"},"author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"Szopk\u00f3","first_name":"Zita","job_title":"","description":"[:hu]Az ELTE kommunik\u00e1ci\u00f3- \u00e9s m\u00e9diatudom\u00e1ny mesterszak\u00e1n diplom\u00e1zott, majd t\u00f6bb mint h\u00e1rom \u00e9vig az \u00c1tl\u00e1tsz\u00f3n\u00e1l dolgozott \u00fajs\u00e1g\u00edr\u00f3k\u00e9nt, a lap oktat\u00e1ssal foglalkoz\u00f3 rovat\u00e1nak szerkeszt\u0151jek\u00e9nt. 2019-ben r\u00e9szt vett a Transparency International Magyarorsz\u00e1g oknyomoz\u00f3 \u00fajs\u00e1g\u00edr\u00f3i mentorprogramj\u00e1n. 2024 szeptember\u00e9ben csatlakozott a Direkt36 csapat\u00e1hoz. F\u0151k\u00e9nt szoci\u00e1lis t\u00e9m\u00e1kr\u00f3l, oktat\u00e1sr\u00f3l \u00e9s eg\u00e9szs\u00e9g\u00fcgyr\u0151l \u00edr.[:en]Zita graduated from E\u00f6tv\u00f6s Lor\u00e1nd University in Communication and Media Studies. She worked as a journalist and editor of the education-themed column at \u00c1tl\u00e1tsz\u00f3 for over three years. In 2019, she participated in Transparency International Hungary\u2019s investigative journalism mentorship programme. Since September 2024, she is a full-time journalist at Direkt36. She covers social issues, education and healthcare.[:]"},{"term_id":522,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"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":"1","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 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 and the Pegasus Project. He plays a leading role in the production of Direkt36\u2019s documentaries, including The Dynasty, the award-winning film on the business empire of Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s family. He won the Soma Prize, the prestigious annual award dedicated to investigative journalism in Hungary, three times. 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.[:]"}],"tag_names":[{"name":"4iG","slug":"4ig"},{"name":"Eximbank","slug":"eximbank"},{"name":"private equity fund","slug":"magantokealap"},{"name":"Sz\u00e9chenyi Funds","slug":"szechenyi-alapok"},{"name":"v\u00e9delmi ipar","slug":"vedelmi-ipar"}],"category_names":[{"name":"Private equity funds","slug":"magantokealapok"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13000"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13000"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13009,"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13000\/revisions\/13009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13000"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=13000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u20ac91.96 million in state support<\/h2>\n
Another \u20ac123 million<\/h2>\n
Join Direkt36 supporter community and get insight into investigative journalism! Details \u2192<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
The privatization<\/h2>\n
\nThe Hungarian state owns several defense companies, including vehicle and ammunition manufacturers, as well as firms that repair military equipment. In some of these companies, the state is the sole owner, while others are co-owned with large international defense firms, such as the German Rheinmetall.<\/p>\nInternational expansion<\/h2>\n