Pro-government oligarchy is building Budapest’s new Athletics Centre for 420 million euros

Budapest is scheduled to host the 19th World Athletics Championships in August 2023. A brand-new National Athletics Centre is being built for the occasion. The tender has been won; the project will cost over 422 million euros.

The 2023 World Athletics Championships are scheduled to be held from 19 August to 27 August 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. The championships will be held in the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, which will be built on the eastern bank of the River Danube and will have a capacity of 40,000.

History seems to be repeating itself. This new project is going to cost about the same amount of money as Budapest’s Puskás Stadium did, and it is also going to be built by the same contractors, 24 reports.

The tender was drawn by BMSK Ltd., and it could be applied for by invitation only (or rather oligarchy only). The tender was for an athletics centre with a capacity of 40,000 (capacity will be reduced to 15,000 for future events), but it also included several additional investments, like a 168 m steel pedestrian and road underpass, railway track, pedestrian bridge, boat station, and the construction of a 1,000-metre-long flood defence line.

The tender for the construction of the new National Athletics Centre was won by Záév Építőipari Ltd. and Magyar Építő Ltd. with a winning offer of over net 422 million euros.

Záév Építőipari Ltd. can be associated with notorious pro-government oligarch Lőrinc Mészáros, while Magyar Építő Ltd. belongs to the WHB Group owned by Attila Paár. Paár is the former business associate of Orbán’s son-in-law, and he is also among the wealthiest people in Hungary.

Sub-contractors include companies like Mészáros és Mészáros Ltd., V-Híd Ltd., and Hódmezővásárhelyi Útépítő Ltd., all belonging to businessmen close to the government.

Hódmezővásárhelyi Útépítő Ltd. can be associated with László Szíjj, whose name might ring a bell. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szíjjártó was caught on summer vacation on the Adriatic Sea on a EUR 20 million yacht which belongs to László Szíjj.

Another contender for the tender was Strabag, who made a proposal for 484 million euros, but Swietelsky Magyarország Ltd. and Fertődi Építő és Szolgáltató Ltd. were also in the run for the tender.

Source: www.24.hu