SCANDAL GROWING OVER TOWN HALL PR-TENDER

The political scandal over the communication tender of the 4th underground line continues and Botond Aba, director general of the Budapest Public Transport Company (BKV) has started an inner examination while left-wing politicians of the self-government of Budapest do not find anything objectionable in the fact that it was only Dorottya Czuk, press chief of the Town Hall who took part in judging the tender while no opposition member could take part in the committee.

Gábor Bruck, whose company, Sawyer Miller Group Ltd (SMG) won the PR-tender of Budapest, former campaign chief of Mayor Demszky said earlier to Magyar Nemzet he had no financial connections with the City of Budapest since 2000 but the internet portal of SMG gives a list of reference works performed in 2002-2003 commissioned by the self-government of Budapest, by the Prime Minister’s Office, by the National Development Plan, and by several ministries. Gábor Bruck was an adviser of Mayor Demszky in his 1998 campaign and he was the member of the consultative group of Free Democrats when Mr Demszky was chairman of the party, later he became the adviser of Premier Medgyessy. Sawyer Miller Group Ltd had bought a part of Marketing Centrum, a market research firm some years ago, with Krisztián Nyáry as its director. Mr Nyáry had been press chief of Mayor Demszky, now he is communication director of the town hall, i.e. he is Ms Czuk’s boss. András Bőhm, Free Democrat faction leader claims it is quite ’natural’ that the press chief of the self-government takes part in the committee while opposition representatives find the practice unacceptable that members of the Free Democrat business clientele receive state commissions without even trying to adhere to the formal rules of procurement.

Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó