GREASED PR-CONTRACTS

The competent department of the self-government of Budapest prescribed for the firms making the great summer road reconstructions how to conclude contracts and with which PR-companies. The HUF 50 million worth commission has been won mostly by companies attached to the Free Democrats.

According to a document in the possession of Magyar Nemzet the subdivision of the Traffic Department of the Mayor’s Office effectively directed the companies of the road reconstructions how to handle the contracts with public relations firms like One Nations Communications and Privy Council. Both firms are attached to Krisztián Szabados and Zoltán Somogyi, and to one of the proprietors of the pro-government radio station Klub Rádió, András Arató. Krisztián Szabados had been working in the chairman’s cabinet in the Association of Free Democrats, later he became the press chief of the party, while Mr Somogyi is one of the leaders of Political Capital, an institute for political analysis. In June HUF 50 million was paid for PR-commissions. Krisztián Nyáry, communications director of the metropolitan self-government earlier denied the fact of ’greasing’ the contracts. The communication tender of the 4th line of the Budapest underground network has come to the point of prequalification, too: there are only two firms which remained in competition: the Sawyer Miller Group and M&H Communications. The president of the former company is Gábor Bruck, earlier adviser of Mayor Demszky, but Krisztián Nyáry had been also working for Sawyer Miller in leading position. The managing director of M&H is István Matkó who was a personal adviser of Gyula Horn and before the change of regime he had been working as chief counsellor in the office of the Ministers’ Council. The metropolitan faction of Fidesz has requested András Deák, chairman of the public acquisition committee to file a report if necessary for suspicion of fraud in the process of commissioning PR-companies.

Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó