[REVISION HISTORY]

Balásy Gyula financial dealings in Hungary

Updated 3 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-08-08 09:40 UTC → 2026-08-19 20:26 UTC · added ~~removed~~

In mid‑June 2026 Gyula Balásy offered four of his companies (Lounge Design Kft., New Land Media Kft., Lounge Event Kft., Visual Europe Zrt.) together with holdings in the Prime Tech, Prime Peak and Prime Target funds and his Euronews share to the Hungarian state. Prime Minister Péter Magyar declined the proposal, noting the firms already possessed substantial reserves and contracts. In early July the National Event Organising Agency signed a net 1.64 billion‑forint framework with Lounge Event Kft. to run the 2026 Champions League final in Budapest. The agreement was split into preparatory and execution phases, but suppliers demanded advance payments, creating a 300 million‑forint shortfall that the government covered. Additional state outlays included 43 million for pitch work and 159.2 million for lighting upgrades. The firms’ accounts were later frozen and they were barred from future procurement. Transparency International’s July 16 report revealed that the Prime Minister’s Office had paid Balásy‑linked firms far above market rates for a logo, an animation, a countdown widget and TikTok videos, citing hourly fees of 215 000 forints for animators and 525 000 forints per day for cinematographers, with specialist hours far exceeding typical usage. On 30 July the dissolved Sovereignty Protection Office awarded communication contracts worth 3.679 billion forints to the Lounge Group and New Land Media, covering community‑media videos, documentaries, podcasts, event documentation, image films and book publishing, despite the office’s formal merger into the Ministry of Justice. On 6 August the Prime Minister’s Office terminated its framework contract with Lounge Event Kft. ~~after~~ following an enforcement proceeding ~~was launched. The~~ launched on 8 July. This termination was ~~extended to other Balásy‑linked firms;~~ part of a broader review of state contracts under the new administration, which also saw the cancellation of agreements with New Land Media Kft. and Lounge Design Kft. ~~were also cancelled as part of a wider review following the recent change of government.~~

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