Lőrinc Mészáros (center) with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (right).

The announcement was made on the website of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BÉT) at the same time it was revealed that Konzum Investment and Asset Management Nyrt. would be included in the Hungarian bourseʼs BUX index from the same date.

Both listed companies count Lőrinc Mészáros, the former gas fitter and close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán whose wealth has risen spectacularly in recent years, among its owners: Mészáros holds 24.37% of Opus and 19.57% of Konzum.

Business news portal vg.hu observes that the two announcements carry special significance for investors. The CECE index is currently seen as one of the most relevant East-Central European share indices, it notes, with the equities contained within it easily accessible to West European fund managers, and thus likely to see sharply increasing turnover. Opus Global Nyrt. (formerly Opimus Group) has been listed on the BÉT since 1998, and counts various publishing, industrial and agricultural concerns among its interests.

As for Konzum, the vg.hu report adds, its inclusion in the BUX index is similarly likely to trigger growing investor interest, since – similarly to the Vienna CECE – funds trading on the basis of the BUX basket will be obliged to purchase its shares. At the same time, the news portal also notes that it will be subject to increasingly strict expectations of transparency.