MALÉV AIRLINES NOT SOLD

The tender for the sale of the dividends of Malév Company was closed without any result, the press briefing of State Privatization and Holding Company said yesterday so this process has been closed.

In the last round of the tender there were two bids: one by AirBridge Company owned by the Russian Boris Abramovich and János Zubek, former press secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Party, and ASBK Property Management Ltd. The director of the latter, Ferenc Kovács finds the decision baffling because there have been no negotiations with them over the issue and they consider to take the necessary steps. They have also announced in the briefing that five bids have been accepted out of nine for the tender of Budapest Airport. If Budapest Airport is sold, Malév will be tendered again.

Antal Rogán, campaign chief of Fidesz finds the privatization process of Malév utterly scandalous and demands that the supervising subcommittee of the parliamentary budget committee may have an access to all the documents of the privatization process while János Veres, Minister of Finance refused the allegations of Fidesz.

Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó