David Landry

Analysis

Raiffeisen Bank halts sale of Hungarian unit

Austria-based lender Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has decided not to sell its Hungarian unit for now, Reuters reported Wednesday citing...

Competition

McDonald’s fined HUF 15 million for misleading ads

The National Competition Authority (GVH) yesterday reported the fining of the Hungarian unit of fast food chain McDonald’s HUF 15...

In Hungary

Hungary, Austria farm ministers to meet in January

Austrian and Hungarian farm ministers are expected to meet at the end of January to discuss Hungary’s new land law...

Deals

Gallup closes down Budapest office

After two years of incurring losses and nearly three of seriously declining activity, international global management consultancy Gallup has officially...

Automotive

Automotive sector slows, industrial output down

The straightforward reportage of preliminary data from KSH begins as follows: “In November 2013 … industrial gross output rose by...

Left-wing at odds again over joint PM choice

After opposition political parties on the left decided Monday to reopen cooperation talks ahead of the 2014 general elections, it...

Initiatives

New equestrian industry law to be redacted

Legislation passed by Parliament in 2013 redefining regulations for equestrian service and activity providing will be redacted by the Rural...

Analysis

Sony Classics lands rights to Oscar contender The Notebook

In a good portent for Hungary’s prospective Academy Award nominee “The Notebook,” representatives of distributor Sony Pictures Classics yesterday announced...

Tourism

MSzP MP: KSH employment figures “don’t correspond to reality”

The Central Statistics Office (KSH) kicked off its year 2014 with today’s release of some basic employment/unemployment figures from January...

Deals

MKB signs contract on sale of Romanian unit

MKB Bank, the Hungarian unit of Germany-based Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB), reported yesterday the signing of a contract for the sale...

Competition

Hungarian company liquidation at high; increase expected

The number of company closures exceeded the number of newly established companies in Hungary for the first time in decades...

MNB

MNB: Government debt at 80.2% of GDP

According to figures released by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) today, the central government’s consolidated gross debt was at...

Awards

Akeem Adams, Trinidad & Tobago native, Ferencváros footballer, dies

Ferencváros FC football player Akeem Adams of Trinidad & Tobago passed away on Monday in a Hungarian hospital due to...

Visits

BBJ’s Top 10 stories of 2013

Like any website, BBJ.hu wouldn’t exist without its readers. As we close the book on 2013, we take one look...

Transport

Wizz Air announces flights to Donetsk for 2014

Hungary-based budget-fare airline Wizz Air has reported its launching of a twice-weekly flight to Donetsk, Ukraine, beginning on April 30,...

Visits

Hungary: Loving it, leaving it

When I first came here, local folks mostly asked me “Why Hungary?” Now when I tell them I’m leaving, they...

Int'l Relations

Szijjártó declares end of classic diplomacy

Perhaps gearing up for the rumored merging of foreign trade and foreign affairs ministries in a new government composition to...

Party Popularity

EP election: Fidesz, Jobbik tops on low voter turnout

Cruising to a landslide victory in which the governing Fidesz-KDNP coalition garnered 51.5% of the vote, opposition party MSzP and...

Deals

Ablon rechristened as CPI Hungary

Due to the takeover of its Hungarian operations by Czech Republic-based CPI Group in mid-2013, real estate firm Ablon has...

MNB

Debt rises to all-time high, government spins figure

Hungary’s gross consolidated government sector debt, calculated at nominal value, in line with the Maastricht methodology, rose to HUF 24.904...

MNB

Debt rises to all-time high, government spins figure

Hungary’s gross consolidated government sector debt, calculated at nominal value, in line with the Maastricht methodology, rose to HUF 24.904...

World

Dep. CEO: OTP Bank will not withdraw from E. Ukraine

Following the release of OTP Bank’s first quarter earnings report showing disappointing results due in large part to heavy losses...

MNB

Inflation rate concerns Varga, MNB deputy governor

National Economy Minister Mihály Varga on Thursday said the economy is in “top form” and the country’s fiscal position is...

Int'l Relations

Oslo awaits response from Hungary on suspended grants

Talks between Hungary and Norway on the suspension of funding from the EEA and Norway Grants scheme are not underway...

Automotive

Industrial output in March up 10.6% y.o.y.

Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (KSH) today indicate that in March 2014, industrial gross output in Hungary increased...

Deals

MOL: Report on management of INA “shameful”

Oil-and-gas giant MOL termed “shameful” the report of advisory Oil and Gas Consulting to the government of Croatia on MOL’s...

Initiatives

Epson study considers trends in SME printing habits

A study commissioned by Epson Hungary and undertaken by KutatóCentrum sheds some light on trends in printing among local small-...

Initiatives

Orbán supports Poland plan for EU energy union

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was in Poland this week to meet with his counterpart Donald Tusk on various issues headlined...

Deals

Nine of 35 banks to contest National Bank fines

Nine lenders, among them Raiffeisen Bank, Erste Bank Hungary and FHB Commercial Bank, are contesting fines by the National Bank...

Pharma

Michelin to close Budapest plant due to “shrinking tire market”

Michelin Hungária today announced the planned closure of its plant in Budapest. Labeling the facility “outdated,” the plant will be...

Hungary: Loving it, leaving it

When I first came here, local folks mostly asked me “Why Hungary?” Now when I tell them I’m leaving, they...

Szijjártó declares end of classic diplomacy

Perhaps gearing up for the rumored merging of foreign trade and foreign affairs ministries in a new government composition to...

EP election: Fidesz, Jobbik tops on low voter turnout

Cruising to a landslide victory in which the governing Fidesz-KDNP coalition garnered 51.5% of the vote, opposition party MSzP and...

Ablon rechristened as CPI Hungary

Due to the takeover of its Hungarian operations by Czech Republic-based CPI Group in mid-2013, real estate firm Ablon has...

Debt rises to all-time high, government spins figure

Hungary’s gross consolidated government sector debt, calculated at nominal value, in line with the Maastricht methodology, rose to HUF 24.904...

Debt rises to all-time high, government spins figure

Hungary’s gross consolidated government sector debt, calculated at nominal value, in line with the Maastricht methodology, rose to HUF 24.904...

Dep. CEO: OTP Bank will not withdraw from E. Ukraine

Following the release of OTP Bank’s first quarter earnings report showing disappointing results due in large part to heavy losses...

Inflation rate concerns Varga, MNB deputy governor

National Economy Minister Mihály Varga on Thursday said the economy is in “top form” and the country’s fiscal position is...

Oslo awaits response from Hungary on suspended grants

Talks between Hungary and Norway on the suspension of funding from the EEA and Norway Grants scheme are not underway...

Industrial output in March up 10.6% y.o.y.

Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (KSH) today indicate that in March 2014, industrial gross output in Hungary increased...

MOL: Report on management of INA “shameful”

Oil-and-gas giant MOL termed “shameful” the report of advisory Oil and Gas Consulting to the government of Croatia on MOL’s...

Epson study considers trends in SME printing habits

A study commissioned by Epson Hungary and undertaken by KutatóCentrum sheds some light on trends in printing among local small-...

Orbán supports Poland plan for EU energy union

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was in Poland this week to meet with his counterpart Donald Tusk on various issues headlined...

Nine of 35 banks to contest National Bank fines

Nine lenders, among them Raiffeisen Bank, Erste Bank Hungary and FHB Commercial Bank, are contesting fines by the National Bank...

Michelin to close Budapest plant due to “shrinking tire market”

Michelin Hungária today announced the planned closure of its plant in Budapest. Labeling the facility “outdated,” the plant will be...