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Gergely Gulyás, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office, and Eszter Vitályos, Government Spokeswoman, held a joint Government Info press conference on Wednesday, detailing the cabinet’s latest decisions. They touched upon online scams, the profit margin freeze, and drought.
Gergely Gulyás said that bank fraud has increased in recent times: Ukrainian organized crime groups are behind more than 80 percent of SMS-based and online fraud; the Ukrainian mafia is using increasingly sophisticated methods to steal money from depositors. He added that
online scams have recently caused more than eight billion forints in damages to private individuals, of which one and a half billion forints have been recovered so far with the help of the police and the financial institutions involved.
He announced that the government had decided to set up a working group with the participation of the national security services and the police to combat Ukrainian cyberattacks and the Ukrainian mafia. They are asking the working group for an action plan, legislation will be tightened, and the government will discuss these specific proposals at its next meeting.
Fraudsters are trying to steal bank customers’ data using fake text messages, emails, and phone calls, the Minister explained, adding that the amount of damage shows the scale of the fraud, as it usually involves several million forints. He pointed out that although it is not entirely impossible to recover stolen money, once someone has been defrauded and the money has been paid out of their account, it is very difficult to recover it, even with rapid cooperation between the police and the bank.
Gulyás recalled that
recently, the IT systems of several financial service providers had been targeted by organized hacker attacks, also with the aim of obtaining customer data.
In most cases, Ukrainian organized crime groups were behind these hacker attacks, he said. He added that a special investigation unit within the Ministry of the Interior has been investigating bank fraud for the past two years.
Minister Gulyás: The government protects Hungary against cyber fraud by Ukrainian gangs
️ At this afternoon’s Government Info session, Minister Gergely Gulyás and government spokesperson Eszter Vitályos outlined new measures decided during the latest cabinet meeting,… pic.twitter.com/0EcweRXrsD
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) May 28, 2025
The government is extending the profit margin freeze on food until August 31, because it is an effective tool against unjustified price increases, the Minister announced. He added that the consumer protection authority and the competition authority consider the implementation and enforcement of related decisions to be their primary task.
Gulyás announced that
the government has allocated HUF 4.7 billion (EUR 11.6 million) to fill reservoirs and canals in connection with the drought expected this year.
He said that although the problem currently appears to be less serious due to the weather in recent weeks, experience from previous years has shown that several regions of the country are particularly at risk. This is why the government previously declared a drought emergency and set up a government committee to deal with the drought, he added.
The Minister emphasized that in order to prevent the summer drought from taking the agricultural sector by surprise, and to be able to take the most effective action against it, the drought protection capabilities of the water management authorities will be strengthened. He indicated that there are investments that can be implemented immediately and will increase water reserves by filling and replenishing water-deficient backwaters. The necessary funds will be made available immediately, and preparatory work is already underway.
Gulyás reported that the Prime Minister spoke on Wednesday with the President of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ), Hunor Kelemen, and promised that Hungary would provide all necessary assistance to the Szekler people and Praid (Parajd) in connection with the natural disaster that occurred in the salt mine.
The Minister also announced that ATMs will be installed in all settlements with more than 1,000 inhabitants by the end of this year and in all settlements with more than 500 inhabitants by the end of next year. The government has accepted the proposal of the Ministry of National Economy on ATMs, on the basis of which a decree will be drafted.
Via MTI, Featured photo via MTI/Máthé Zoltán