The embassies of nine countries issued a joint statement Wednesday expressing concern over “non-transparent behaviour” in Hungarian public life.
The joint statement from representatives of the US, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland noted that the vast majority of foreign direct investment in Hungary comes from their countries, adding “it is therefore with great concern that we hear of significant new instances of non-transparent behaviour affecting investors in such areas as public utilities, broadcasting and elements of the nation’s transport infrastructure”.
The three outstanding cases of concern, Népszabadság learnt from other sources, were the corruption scandal at the Budapest transport company BKV, the cancellation of the licences of Sláger and Danubius radio stations and the forcible takeover of the Pécs waterworks by the city.
In addition, the latest report by Transparency International released on Tuesday found that nothing has changed in Hungary over the past year.
The embassies’ beef of course was not the corruption but a sudden lack of corruption that allowed the higher bids to win some radio licenses. US owned Sláger rádió, in which US vice president Joe Biden is personally interested, submitted a license-renewal application in late September promising 11.5 percent of net revenue as a license fee. Danubius Radio owned by a corporation registered in Germany but probably ‘American owned’ as well pledged 15 percent. An MSZP-Fidesz consortium offered between 50 and 55 percent of revenue and won the bids. Another major beef of the ‘international media’ is that SZDSZ was completely excluded. And we know who they are, don’t we?
Wow! Can you believe these arrogant bastards? “The US House of Representatives passed 333-74 a resolution condemning the process by which the Hungarian government stripped Slager Radio, majority-owned by US-based Emmis Communications, of its license to broadcast.” http://www.rbr.com/radio/19187.html ‘Stripped’ of course means that the American buyer (and guess why they need to control our media so much) was outbid by the Hungarian buyer instead of just having to bribe a few corrupt ORTT whores as usual. The Hungarian buyer BTW was an MSZP-Fidesz joint venture which is remarkable to say the least. It is also remarkable that they have completely left out the SZDSZ, the ‘Jewish’ Party, another sore point with the US Congress I am sure. It is also very encouraging that the Majtényis — and we know what he is, don’t we — are being replaced by people like Szalai Annamária: “Kultúrtörténeti érdekességnek tartom, hogy ezt a kongresszusi határozatot egy olyan országban adták ki, ahol törvény tiltja, hogy külföldi cég húsz százaléknál nagyobb részesedést szerezhessen egy amerikai rádióban. Kerestem a határozat erkölcsi alapját, de ennek ismeretében nem igazán találtam.” http://gondola.hu/cikkek/68676 What a lovely lady! /webcast.tv2.hu/dynamic/index.php?m=video&video_id=405508
Ah Jeez, I forgot to translate the Hungarian part of my comment… Here you go:
“I find it a culture-historical curiosity that this congressional decision was issued in a country where it is illegal for a foreign company to acquire more than a twenty percent share in an American radio station. I was looking for a moral basis for the decision, but learning this fact I couldn’t really find it.” More at http://gondola.hu/cikkek/68676
Different shades of corruption on different days
in Hungary is the norm.
Embassies are complaining? It can be expected.
If it were just the issuance of radio licenses the hullabaloo would die down in days.
But foreign companies with large stake holdings in the transport and water businesses here in Hungary have been affected too.
Hungary has one foot in the Past and the other foot in a swamp of corrupt practices that start with the government and finish there as well.
@QC: “a swamp of corrupt practices” Which is apparently what the ‘investors’ want. They haven’t complained until ORTT had a fair and square auction for the first time in it’s history and the highest bid won instead of a ridiculously low bid backed up by a bunch of bribes. Whereupon all hell broke loose. Do you really not smell a rat here? Wake up, man, the ‘multinational’ corporations cause the corruption, demand the corruption and scream like banshees when we try to deviate from it.
Béres Zsuzsa’s comment on Radio Business Report: “As a one-time business reporter for Reuters in Budapest, I have to observe that at least half the story is glaringly absent from this post. Slager and Danubius wanted their radio licenses extended automatically, i.e. no rebidding, for another seven years. Emmis, like all key stakeholders in this game, lobbied Hungarian law-makers heavily last year for an amendment to Hungary’s media law to make this possible. And won! However, Hungary’s president turned to the country’s constitutional court for a legal review, and the court found that no-bid, automatic extension violates free competition and anti-monopoly legislation. So a tender was announced and Slager and Danubius lost. Why? This post fails to mention that there’s been a huge political shift in Hungary’s political landscape. The current ‘left leaning’ governing party, who backed Slager (Emmis) all these years (yes, that’s how it won its radio license) will be ousted next year and the likely new ‘right-leaning’ governing elite is backing totally different media groups. It’s all about political elites and their political favoritism, as is practiced worldwide, including the USA. Emmis, too, lobbied heavily in Hungary just like anybody else with a stake in the game, first to obtain a no-bid extension of its license, and then to win the rebidding.
Béres Zsuzsa’s comment continued: “Local media commentators actually criticized Emmis for its heavy-handed, counterproductive PR narrative, which openly demanded the continued ‘right’ to the Hungarian radio frequency it’s been using for the past 12 years as though the radio license were its birthright. Was the bidding process corrupted? Yes it was. Was it corrupted when Slager and Danubius emerged as winners? Yes it was. Indeed, after it won the license 12 years ago Slager fought aggressively to renegotiate the terms of its own bid after the fact, and the corrupt system, whose political backing it then fully enjoyed, granted Slager new terms, ie. it was allowed to pay less money for the license. So Slager (Emmis) has had a great deal all these years, made tons of profit. Now it’s somebody else’s turn. And to talk about Stalinism in relation to Hungary is just silly and serves only to cover up the totality of the facts of the ‘radio wars’ (now two decades old by the way), which this post fails to present. It’s not about our ‘good guys’ vs. their ‘bad guys’ at all. It’s all about making profit and doing whatever’s necessary to snag opportunity. Slager (Emmis) and Danubius had no complaints so long as they were in.”
Béres Zsuzsa’s comment, cont.: “Now that they’re out they’re screaming murder. Slager and Danubius are popular radio stations in Hungary, and I’d personally be sorry to see either of them disappear from the air. Indeed, it is being rumored that Slager is hoping to relaunch on another, perhaps regional, frequency. http://www.rbr.com/radio/18563.html If anyone had any doubts about the American corporations’ and government’s agenda in Hungary, or their nature, this little show and tell will clear things up pretty damn quick… For which we should be grateful.