V-H\u00edd, L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros\u2019s company, is known for its involvement in major public infrastructure projects. But on 21 February 2023, the company\u2019s senior executives were busy arranging financial support for two lesser-known non-governmental organizations. According to an internal document, they earmarked HUF 35 million (around 96 000 euros at the current exchange rate) for each organisation. What the two organisations had in common was that Anik\u00f3 L\u00e9vai, the wife of former Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n, had been involved with both.<\/p>\n
One of the organisations is the M\u00e9dia a Csal\u00e1d\u00e9rt Alap\u00edtv\u00e1ny, which emphasises the importance of family, marriage and having children, and awards an annual prize to journalists covering these subjects. Anik\u00f3 L\u00e9vai is the patron of the award and regularly speaks at the ceremonies. On one occasion, Viktor Orb\u00e1n himself presented<\/a> the award on behalf of his wife.<\/p>\n The other organisation is the Carola Association, registered in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, which was established to protect the heritage and values of the Hungarian minority in Transylvania. Although several earlier reports identified L\u00e9vai as one of the association\u2019s founding members, the organisation has now told Direkt36 that she was not among its founders and \u201chas never been a member of our Association, either in the past or at present\u201d. They added that L\u00e9vai \u201chas no professional relationship whatsoever with the association\u201d.<\/p>\n Earlier reports, however, suggest that L\u00e9vai had some connection to the organisation. According to one article, she attended the 2015 inauguration of a tombstone in Cluj-Napoca commemorating Carola Szilv\u00e1ssy. The restoration of the tomb was one of the Carola Association\u2019s first initiatives.. One of the association\u2019s founders said at the time that the restoration of the tomb had been made possible \u201cwith the substantial assistance of Anik\u00f3 L\u00e9vai and donations from private individuals\u201d. The official website of Viktor Orb\u00e1n, who was prime minister at the time, also reported<\/a> on the ceremony. At the event, the prime minister\u2019s wife delivered a lenghty speech.<\/p>\n In 2022, L\u00e9vai also attended<\/a> the Cluj-Napoca premiere of a documentary about Carola Szilv\u00e1ssy. The film was made by the Carola Association.<\/p>\n We sent the Carola Association several questions about these reports, but have not received a response so far.<\/p>\n 2023 was not the first time that V-H\u00edd, a company that grew substantially through public infrastructure contracts, supported these organisations. Documents obtained by Direkt36 show that the two organisations received around 360 000 euros in funding from the railway construction company in 2023 and 2025 combined.<\/p>\n Last year, M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros\u2019s railway construction company provided around 82\u00a0000 euros to the M\u00e9dia a Csal\u00e1d\u00e9rt Alap\u00edtv\u00e1ny. According to the foundation\u2019s annual report, it received approximately 95\u00a0000 euros in donations that year, meaning that most of its total funding came from M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros\u2019s company. The railway construction firm has supported the foundation regularly, providing nearly 180\u00a0000 euros since 2023.<\/p>\n M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros\u2019s company has also regularly funded the Carola Association. According to V-H\u00edd\u2019s internal records, the association received a total of 178 000 euros from the railway construction company in 2023 and 2025.<\/p>\n Help us tell the truth in Hungary! Become a supporter now and you’ll get insight into our work!<\/a><\/p>\n Krisztina Fodor, executive director of the Media for the Family Foundation, confirmed in response to our inquiry that they had received funding from V-H\u00edd. \u201cAnik\u00f3 L\u00e9vai is not a member of our board of trustees and has neither a formal nor an informal working relationship with our foundation. She has attended our award ceremonies on several occasions as a guest, which we consider an honor,\u201d the executive director added.<\/p>\n Documents obtained by Direkt36 reveal that V-H\u00edd has supported numerous other organizations linked to politicians and figures close to the government in recent years. Substantial sums also went to sports organizations associated with L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros.<\/p>\n These documents are part of the files obtained by Direkt36 that detail the internal operations of V-H\u00edd, a company that won numerous high-value government contracts under the Orb\u00e1n administrations. Based on these documents, we previously reported that the company regularly provided hundreds of millions in funding to Megafon<\/a>, which ran social media campaigns in support of Fidesz. We also wrote about how the money was spent on luxury trips<\/a> and how the company owned by Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s father got work<\/a> on government funded constructions with the help of M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros\u2019s railway construction company.<\/p>\n V-H\u00edd is one of the most profitable companies in the M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros empire, deriving the majority of its revenue from government contracts. None of the projects listed on its website appears to involve private-sector or foreign clients. For example, the company won the tender for the construction of the Southern Ring Railway project, and it is also participating as a subcontractor in the construction of the Hungarian section of the Budapest\u2013Belgrade railway line that worth 2,2 billion euros and in the expansion of the M1 highway.<\/p>\n We sent V-H\u00edd a detailed list of questions, but the company did not respond to our inquiry. We tried to reach Anik\u00f3 L\u00e9vai through Fidesz, but received no response.<\/p>\n A few days ago, G7 reported<\/a> that V-H\u00edd spends a great deal on grants\u2014roughly\u00a0 57,6 million euros over nine years. There were years when it allocated more than 5 percent of its total revenue to such purposes.<\/p>\n Articles have appeared in the past suggesting that L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros\u2019s company has a preference for supporting organizations linked to figures close to Fidesz. However, documents obtained regarding V-H\u00edd\u2019s internal operations now provide an even clearer picture of which organizations the M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros company\u2014which has grown significantly through state investments\u2014deemed worthy of support.<\/p>\n According to the construction company\u2019s internal documents, in the fall of 2020 it provided a one-time donation of 54\u00a0900 euros to the N\u0151k Magyarorsz\u00e1g\u00e9rt Klub Egyes\u00fcletet, which was founded at the initiative of Katalin Nov\u00e1k<\/a>. The former president founded the organization while she was still a state secretary with the goal of \u201cpromoting Hungarian women\u2019s culture\u2014including the lifestyle, mindset, and femininity that underpin it\u2014as well as motherhood and the gift of life as life\u2019s unparalleled blessing to the widest possible audience.\u201d The association\u2019s website and Facebook page have since been shut down, and it has had no income in recent years.<\/p>\n Two years ago, 54\u00a0900 euros was also transferred to the Magyar Sport\u00fajs\u00e1g\u00edr\u00f3k Sz\u00f6vets\u00e9ge (Hungarian Sports Journalists\u2019 Association). Internal documents suggest that V-H\u00edd had supported the organization previously as well, as an internal record lists a 2020 grant.<\/p>\n Gy\u00f6rgy Sz\u00f6ll\u0151si had served as president of the Hungarian Sports Journalists\u2019 Association since 2015, but he resigned from that position this past August. Sz\u00f6ll\u0151si also worked as editor-in-chief of Nemzeti Sport, a Hungarian sports newspaper for the past ten years and maintained a good relationship with the former prime minister. Ahead of the 2026 parliamentary elections, he was the one who sent Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s letter to the sports journalists\u2019 organization he led. Under the Fidesz governments, he served as a special envoy for Hungarian soccer affairs and received a diplomatic passport, and took part in dozens of trips abroad funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n V-H\u00edd provided nearly 87\u00a0900 euros in funding to an organization called the \u201cDr. Andr\u00e1s Cser-Palkovics Team for the City\u201d in 2022. That year, the association received a total of 88\u00a0900 euros in funding, meaning that almost all of the funding it received came from M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros\u2019s company. The organization actively supported Fidesz\u2019s election campaign ahead of the parliamentary elections. \u201cWe had the honor of organizing Fidesz\u2019s national campaign closing event, at which Viktor Orb\u00e1n, Prime Minister of Hungary, delivered a speech,\u201d reads the 2022 annual report.<\/p>\n Andr\u00e1s Cser-Palkovics member of the Fidesz party has been mayor of Sz\u00e9kesfeh\u00e9rv\u00e1r since 2010. However, he did not found the association in 2019; it was established by one of his colleagues.<\/p>\n \u201cThis association was established in 2019 as a civic initiative with the aim of having an organization support my local election campaign at the time. They asked if they can use my name, and I said yes,\u201d the mayor wrote to Direkt36. He added that \u201cI did not hold any official role in the association, nor am I aware of its legal or financial affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n Cser-Palkovics emphasized that \u201cthe association did not receive any financial support from the local government\u201d and \u201cI did not receive any financial support from the association,\u201d which is no longer active.<\/p>\n Help us tell the truth in Hungary! Become a supporter now and you’ll get insight into our work!<\/a><\/p>\n The railroad construction company has repeatedly supported civil society organizations linked to L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros. For example, four years ago, they transferred nearly 300 million forints to the M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros Group\u2019s own foundation, the Pro Filii Foundation.<\/p>\n The railway construction company\u2019s largest contributions were related to sports.<\/p>\n It was already known that the Felcs\u00fat soccer academy received about 27,4 million euros in public funding after 2010 and was one of the biggest beneficiaries of Hungary’s TAO scheme year after year. The essence of the TAO system is that profitable Hungarian companies can donate a portion of their taxes directly to sports clubs instead of paying them to the state.<\/p>\n The president of the foundation operating the academy is L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros, but former Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n exercises the founder\u2019s rights. According to V-H\u00edd\u2019s records, the company has provided significant financial support to the foundation on multiple occasions, most of which consisted of TAO grants. There are documents detailing additional contributions. In 2022, the company made a donation of 500 million forints to the foundation. According to the academy\u2019s website, most of the sponsors belong to M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros\u2019s corporate group.<\/p>\n V-H\u00edd has also entered into sponsorship agreements with sports organizations. The essence of these agreements is that V-H\u00edd provides financial or other resources to the recipient, which in turn offers V-H\u00edd advertising opportunities.<\/p>\n V-H\u00edd regularly entered into advertising contracts worth 1.3 million euros with the company behind the Felcs\u00fat soccer academy. We also found sponsorship agreements with the sport club of Bicske, which operated under the presidency of former Fidesz Member of Parliament Zolt\u00e1n Tessely.<\/p>\n The Bicske club did not respond to our questions, but they did state that they are \u201cconcerned\u201d that the current government is \u201cterminating contracts with V-H\u00edd Zrt. and excluding it from public procurement procedures,\u201d referring to the government decisions announced last week.<\/a><\/p>\n Funds were also allocated to support a foreign soccer team. When L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros purchased the Osijek soccer club, he said: \u201cEverything needed for good soccer is here\u2014only the money is missing. And I\u2019ll bring you that money!\u201d He then made good on that promise: two years ago, he stated that he had invested a total of 150 million euros in the Osijek club. According to G7\u2019s article<\/a>, the final bill is even higher, possibly between 60 and 70 billion forints.<\/p>\n Internal documents from V-H\u00edd reveal that part of the money\u2014more than 17 million euros\u2014came from a construction company that had been winning government projects one after another. The value of the company\u2019s sponsorship contracts with the team ran into several million euros annually. After the parliamentary elections in April, the Croatian press reported that M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros might withdraw his support for the Osijek soccer team.<\/p>\n Soccer wasn\u2019t the only sport in which M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros\u2019s company paid for advertising. Three years ago, the former prime minister\u2019s son-in-law, Istv\u00e1n Tiborcz, joined M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros as a shareholder in the company that operates the Hungarian Golf Association through Tiborcz\u2019s company, BDPST Zrt. According to an article by 24.hu<\/a>, they also agreed that the office could be moved to the Botaniq M\u00e1riav\u00f6lgyi Golf Club\u2019s headquarters in Alcs\u00fatdoboz. L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros\u2019s railroad construction company regularly entered into sponsorship agreements with the Golf Assosiation: over two years, they paid the assosiation about 302\u00a0200 euros.<\/p>\n The federation told Direkt36 that the sponsorship received from V-H\u00edd was intended to support two domestic tournaments, in exchange for which the company was allowed to appear at the event venues and in related publications. They added that \u201cthe contracts were signed by the Hungarian Golf Association\u2019s previous board\u201d and that there has been no contract between the two parties since 2024.<\/p>\n Illustration: P\u00e9ter Somogyi (szarvas) \/ Telex<\/em><\/p>\n Pierre Romera Zhang, member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists<\/a>, assisted with the technical processing of the documents cited in this article via the Datashare<\/a> platform.<\/em><\/p>\n We used the Opten service to access Hungarian company data.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" According to documents obtained by Direkt36, two organizations linked to Anik\u00f3 L\u00e9vai received large amounts of funding from a company called V-H\u00edd, which had grown significantly through state projects. Other organizations, also affiliated with Fidesz circles, received substantial donations as well. The M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros Files, Part IV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":13539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[954],"tags":[197,222,948,949],"ppma_author":[771,935],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWomen’s culture, sports journalists<\/h2>\n
Billions for soccer in Felcs\u00fat<\/h2>\n