Defense spending currently accounts for 1.2 percent of Hungarian GDP.Continue reading
Last week, news broke in Hungary that the head of the Ministry of Technology and Industry, László Palkovics, had resigned. The news has since been confirmed by the government, which said that the former ministry will be abolished and a new, separate energy ministry will be established.
On Monday, Gergely Gulyás, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office, announced that Csaba Lantos will be the head of the independent energy ministry. The restructuring is justified by the war in Ukraine and sanctioned energy prices, with energy security and prices currently among the most important issues, Gulyás said. He added that the new ministry will also take over most of the powers of the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority.
According to the minister,
Palkovics justified his departure by saying that he saw his ministry as a single portfolio and that he would not take over its leadership after the creation of an independent energy ministry.
The Ministry of Technology and Industry will be abolished and its tasks will be taken over by other ministries: industry will be transferred to the Ministry of Economic Development headed by Márton Nagy, transport to the Ministry of Construction and Investment run by János Lázár, and adult education and innovation companies to János Csák, head of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation.
It has since been announced where Palkovics will continue his career. Hungarian Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky announced on Tuesday that the N7 National Defense Industrial Innovation Holding Zrt. will be transferred from the Ministry of Technology and Industry to the Ministry of Defense. The CEO of this company will be the resigned minister, Palkovics.
The company also manages an interest in the Czech Republic, Aero Vodochody, in which the Minister of Defense previously held a majority stake. The Hungarian government has previously purchased a total of 12 light jet aircraft manufactured by the Czech company for the Hungarian Defense Forces, eight of which are for (Gripen) pilot training and four for reconnaissance purposes.
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