Politicians have submitted their yearly asset declarations, with no major changes in comparison to one year ago. While the Prime Minister has no savings, Cabinet Chief Antal Rogán’s assets have further grown due to his invention. Former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány’s company Altus has had a worse year, while it seems a Jobbik politician owns the most properties, and according to the official asset decalaration, a young LMP politician is the wealthiest member of parliament.
Government and Fidesz politicians
Similarly to his last year’s declaration, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán supposedly has no liquid assets, or savings at all, possessing only two properties: one in Budapest’s 12th district and one in his hometown of Felcsút. He repaid a further fraction of the loan taken out together with his wife in 2002, now owing HUF 882,000 (Eur 2,477).
Head of the PM’s Cabinet Antal Rogán, pocketed HUF 157.8 million (EUR 443,100) in 2020 thanks to an IT invention under his name. Besides the long-known properties in and around his hometown, according to his declaration, the mastermind behind the government’s communication and residency bond scheme got married once again for the third time (only making the information public in the declaration), and his deposits also slightly increased, amounting now to HUF 822 million (EUR 2,3 million).
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó still owes the same amount, HUF 30 million (Eur 84,000) to his family, which he borrowed years ago to purchase his home in Dunakeszi. His savings decreased from HUF 5.8 million in 2019 to HUF 222,071 (EUR 624). The value of his securities increased to 2.6 million (EUR 7,301), and his insurance asset fund increased to HUF 941,000 (EUR 2,642).
His 2020 declaration received special attention after his controversial holiday trip on the luxury yacht of government-ally businessman László Szíjj. In the declaration, there isn’t any reference to the trip which he still refers to as a “private matter.”
Finance Minister Mihály Varga rented a 204 sqm property in Gyenesdiás (at lake Balaton) in 2020. He still co-owns a 2nd district house, and one property in Karcag, his hometown. His assets include HUF 12.5 million (EUR 35,100) in shares (a new entry in his declaration), HUF 726,000 (EUR 2,039) in bonds, and HUF 14.3 million (EUR 40,154) in government securities.
Apart from two apartments in the capital, PMO Chief Gergely Gulyás hasn’t declared anything: he has no car, no valuable artworks, no securities, no savings, only a loan of 120,000 Swiss francs, half of which he is constantly repaying, and a debt of HUF 2 million (EUR 5,616) owed to individuals. As a minister, he earns HUF 1.9 million (EUR 5,335) per month.
Family Minister Katalin Novák‘s savings grew from HUF 20 to 26 million (EUR 73,007), while her salary also increased by HUF 400,000 (EUR 1,123) a month, adding to a gross monthly income of HUF 305,000 (EUR 856) coming in from renting out her properties. She still co-owns a house and a flat in the 11th district, owns another apartment there, and three in Szeged besides a garage and a holiday house in Balatonlelle.
The head of the Central Bank’s (MNB) declaration is also a modest one. György Matolcsy still has no savings, no securities, no other valuable assets. His position earns Matolcsy HUF 5 million (EUR 14,040) gross per month. His additional income includes earnings coming in from his banking course supervisor duties, education material lecturer jobs, and examination committee memberships. Last year, the former minister of economy received a total of HUF 2.3 million (EUR 6,458) gross for these.
Opposition
In comparison to the previous year, Democratic Coalition (DK) leader and former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány increased his securities assets to HUF 823 million (EUR 2.3 million). He also increased his securities-backed loans: while at the end of 2019 this was HUF 150 million, in 2020 this grew to HUF 214 million (EUR 600,910). In 2020, he claimed significantly less, a gross HUF 55 million (EUR 154,440) from his company Altus Zrt. in comparison to 2019’s HUF 238 million. He still owns two properties, one in his hometown of Pápa, and one in Kötcse.
The first to make his declaration public, green party LMP’s Péter Ungár remained probably the wealthiest MP thanks to inherited wealth and firms (one of which is still co-owned with his mother, historian Mária Schmidt, one of Fidesz’ main ideologists). He is still the majority owner of, for example, centrist-liberal portal ‘Azonnali.’ This year, his savings slightly grew, and he replaced his Toyota Land Cruiser for a hybrid Rav 4.
In comparison to last year, right-wing Jobbik’s president Péter Jakab‘s savings slightly grew while his debt decreased. Other than a flat in Miskolc, he still has nothing more to declare. Unlike the party’s Olympic champion former waterpolo player MP Ádám Steinmetz, who has some 69 properties with savings amounting to HUF 127 million (EUR 356,615) and debts of almost HUF 36 million.
Meanwhile, independent MP Ákos Hadházy handed in his declaration with a cheeky note. “The value of donations for paying the politically-motivated punishments of [House Speaker] Comrade Kövér and [head of data protection authority] Comrade Péterfalvi, as well as for the continuation of anti-corruption and anti-propaganda activities, did not reach the limit to be indicated,” he wrote. Still, he declared to have gotten some HUF 5.2 million (EUR 14,602) in donations for the aforementioned purposes. He also bought a 20-year-old WW Caddy and sold a 160 sqm apartment. His stake in his veterinary company has dropped further: to 25% this year, still he bags half of its profits.
Unlike Socialist (MSZP) co-deputy leader Ágnes Kunhalmi who co-owns a flat and has minor debts and savings, the party’s Zugló (14th district) MP Csaba Tóth is rather well-off, probably in large part thanks to his company (where his stake amounts to more than 85%). Besides his six properties in Budapest and the Western parts of Hungary, his savings amount to around HUF 258 million (EUR 724,462), something that has considerably grown over the years.
Featured photo illustration by Tibor Illyés/MTI
