Weekly newsletter

Mayor Karácsony Issues Reprimand to Head of Budapest Capital Asset Management Center

MTI-Hungary Today 2021.11.13.

Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, has issued a written reprimand to Balázs J. Barts, the chief executive of Budapest Capital City Property Management Centre (BVFK), in connection with reports of the possible sale of City Hall.

Karácsony said Barts had been wrong to discuss with real estate investors a preparatory study that presented possible long-term scenarios with regard to the sale of City Hall after 2030, as these had been rejected by the mayor’s cabinet. Karácsony has made clear that he does not want to sell City Hall, according to a statement on Friday by the Mayor’s Office.

The statement said Barts’s duties included receiving inquiries from real estate investors and gauging the intentions of investors. Meeting such people and briefing them was a part of the job, it added. But he made a serious mistake when he presented an old study in connection with the City Hall property that no longer had any relevance, having been rejected by Karácsony’s administration.

Mayor Karácsony Denies Plan to Sell Budapest City Hall
Mayor Karácsony Denies Plan to Sell Budapest City Hall

"I repeat: no decision has been taken to sell City Hall, nor has the Municipality of Budapest taken any steps to ensure that it is sold, and therefore it hasn't given any instructions to do so. Anything else is a lie," the politician commented.Continue reading

Also, he should not have informally conveyed his personal opinion that may have cast doubt on the city administration’s decision, the statement said. As an official, he must not express his personal views on such a sensitive issue, it added.

At the same time, Barts, who was appointed by the former mayor István Tarlós in 2014, was otherwise carrying out his duties satisfactorily, the statement said.

Barts, it added, had been untainted by corruption and had spearheaded the introduction of an anonymous electronic bidding system as well as a unified municipal real estate database. He also helped to maximize the value of municipal properties by carrying out preparatory work for the development over various plots of land owned by the Budapest city council, and opened up opportunities for urban development, it added.

Metropolitan Council Invites Bids to Refurbish City Hall Park
Metropolitan Council Invites Bids to Refurbish City Hall Park

"Budapest residents will have a chance to get much closer to City Hall this municipal cycle," Mayor Gergely Karácsony said.Continue reading

Barts, however, is now prohibited from communicating with external parties in his official capacity concerning the City Hall site, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Fidesz lawmaker Gyula Budai said on Friday he had filed a complaint to police regarding the sale of a property in the capital and the suspicion of influence peddling as indicated in press reports covering the City Hall story. The complaint relates to reports of a secret recording of two men discussing the purchase of a plot of land in the 12th district, which was purchased by Grébics Ingatlan for 101 million forints (almost EUR 275,100) from the Budapest Metropolitan Council.

Featured image via Márton Mónus/MTI


Array
(
    [1536x1536] => Array
        (
            [width] => 1536
            [height] => 1536
            [crop] => 
        )

    [2048x2048] => Array
        (
            [width] => 2048
            [height] => 2048
            [crop] => 
        )

)