Former ambassador, state secretary, national asset manager detained over sale of state property in Russia

To funny, sounds like the entire Hungarian real estate market. Take away the billions and it makes more sense. 100 million dollar flat will probely only sell for 35-50 million forint if you need a cash buyer and it needs to sell today.
Worth 11 billion forints according to whose valuation?? According to my valuation, a trabant is worth 10 million forint– does not mean its actually worth that, just a number i came up with.
Im sure there was some graft, as there always is when state officals are selling something, but my guess is that its much smaller then what is alleged.

A trade office worth $55m! Just how big is this building?

If we are at it, I really would like to see a prosecution regarding Hungary’s fighter-jet purchase, finally. According to Swedish, English and Austrian media (maybe more, but these I’ve been reading about the subject) there was indeed a huge size of bribe, even in Hungary, in spite the official statements.
So far Hungary the only country which never conducted a proper investigation.
There is a hope, mind you: the count may going to be charged, there is a pressure which make him talk – there is a lot on stake.
Anyway, here is the article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/29/former-bae-agent-bribery-arms

@Leto

Again, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Obviously you’ve never been in an Air Force of any kind. Just because the Carpathian Basin is too small to need refueling capacity to fly across doesn’t mean that the Hungarian Air Force has no need for refueling capacity. In order to get the maximum use out of the small number of Hungarian air defense fighters, there might be a need to keep them in the air longer than their fuel tanks would normally allow, especially if they are involved in any kind of air-to-air combat. If there is an invasion by a foreign force, it would make sense to send Hungarian bombers deep into enemy territory to attack supply lines and enemy airfields. Finally, if Hungary takes its NATO Article 5 commitments seriously, it might need to send all kinds of air assets to the far corners of NATO territory, or even to countries outside of that area.

Please stop making baseless, politically-motivated accusations about things you don’t understand. Thank you for not trying to translate anything else, by the way.

swell to 210 billions during the MSZP government. The extra 100 billions were spent on extras like in-flight refueling.
Leto at February 9, 2011 7:59 PM
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Yes and other things that make them compatible with NATO’s systems
Admit it – Fidesz leased 14 Gripen planes that could not work together with NATO forces
That is the simple truth
Because the same “organisation” sold the upgrade, it is most likely to have bribes there also, but Fidesz always blocked that kind of investigation
If you open up the 2nd part, the 1st part will most likely come out also, so better to forget it – Fidesz/MSZP in a nice union
Like the 2010 Radio License Scandal

- One more addition, regarding the offset investments:
At the time, when it happened, the investors were swarming toward Hungary, among them many Swedish. A close friend of mine has got a business-proposition from a well placed Hungarian entrepreneur to make some business in Hungary. “What kind of business” – he asked. “Doesn’t matter, as long as it comes through Sweden. You know, now everything gets approved, because of the Gripen-deal”… So, everything went into the “compensation”, regardless of the initial intentions.
You may make your ow conclusion.
Keep in mind, whatsoever: I have no interest to mislead you, as opposed to some politicians.

@spectator:
As far as I know the only thing those jets were not NATO-compatible was their friend-or-foe system. Which is understandable. I doubt very much anything is written in Swedish on a modern war aircraft. (I’ve got a bit of insight in aerospace engineering.)
The alternative to buying these new, modern fighters was buying second-hand F-16 jets which were rotting in a US desert. Mr. Bush and his buddies certainly didn’t like the deal… so they simply backed MSZP in the 2002 elections. That’s why already the original Gripen deal was very expensive for Hungary indeed.

Even if I didn’t formulated quite so, see yourself here:
http://svtplay.se/v/1422767/oppet_arkiv/tva_dramatiska_haverier?cb,a1364145,1,f,105079/pb,a1364142,1,f,105079/pl,v,,1423726/sb,k103213,1,f,105079
- And there is a few more on record, not on film though. These two certainly happened before the Hungarian deal.

Some more completing to Leto:
These aircraft was originally ordered and bought by the Swedish defense. Unfortunately to them, during the time they waited to the delivery the reason of the purchase disappeared, (read:the Soviet Union disintegrated) so they found something 60-70 aircraft too much in their possession, hence the urge to sell, that’s why the agents – or sales-representatives if you will, and the high commission to them.
There is quite an extensive source regarding the subject. So far it looks like there was a huge kickback in accord of the deal, they paid to Hungarian counterparts, but there was no one who received payment in Hungary…
Or else…

@spectator:
I suppose one could find even more spectacular crashes for F-16′s.
Every machine is more prone to accidents early in the life-cycle than later. Gripen was mature enough by 2001 and it’s a modern design, as opposed to the older, much higher maintenance (but more proved) F-16′s. Gripen had much a better price/value if you take only the military aspects. However the political price was too high like I wrote before.

It’d be good to know (and to take action accordingly) indeed.

@lol:
This was insider job, a prearranged deal with cheating and document forgeries. They tried to keep a very low profile for good reasons. That’s what the police is investigating and that’s why the arrests were made. It’s the court which will decide what the actual damage to the Hungarian state was.

And Hungarian estimation for Moscow realestates will
be better then Russian? Do you really think that the
court will rule out it adequately? The thing is
these guys can backup themselves either by using old
Russian friend’s contacts and get a “price quote”,
or just getting the official pages from local
authorities, and the thing is that the court will
have to say that they actually done MORE than they
could (because the papers will be official).
If it’s going to be a Hungarian estimation – than it
is probably a forgery, because how would you
estimate a price on property, when the local market
price is overhyped and local government prices are
deep lower than expected?

The Russian state decided to whom the Moscow trade office would be sold, ex-finance minister and former government commissioner for promoting eastern economic relations János Veres told Klubrádió Tuesday evening
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This is a key statement and if true it is hard to see how the Hungarian authorities can do anything at the time and now about it
That it was bribes and cheating can easily be assumed, but that is more on the Russian side, which is hardly an Hungarian matter
If the decision was on the Russian side, why should any pay off any Hungarians?
No logic there
.
The question is if it were some special terms regulating the sale of this Office, like it had been given to Hungary after 1990 as part of system-change and break-up of the Soviet union, or the Russians have this rules on Diplomatic missions in general?

A bit of Fidesz history from early in the last decade forgotten by their fan club member. “Two of Orbán’s state secretaries in the prime minister’s office had to resign in May because of their implication in a bribery scandal involving the U.S. military manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. In advance of bids on a major jet-fighter contract, the two secretaries, along with 32 other deputies of Mr. Orban’s party, had sent a letter to two U.S. senators to lobby for the appointment of a Budapest-based Lockheed manager to be the U.S. ambassador to Hungary.”