Quality of life in Eastern European cities will continue to fall unless outdated systems of city life dominated by cars are abandoned, NGOs in the region say. At a meeting in Prague last week environmental groups from countries from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia said city authorities were failing to address growing traffic [...]
Hungarian Agricultural Minister Sandor Fazekas (pictured) on Wednesday announced that the Government has filed an appeal at the European Commission, to extend the moratorium on the acquisition of crop land for foreign nationals in Hungary to April 30, 2014. Fazekas said the move is due to the weakening position of Hungarian farmers, who were left [...]
As the Orban Government implements its new economic policy allegedly focusing on the middle class, mortgage owners on Tuesday awoke in Hungary to a skyrocketing Swiss Franc, which could cause monthly payments for many to rise through the roof. Setting an all-time record on Tuesday morning, one Swiss Franc rose to 221.70 HUF, which analysts [...]
Budapet Airport’s recent photo completion, which included more than 280 participants, celebrated the institution’s 60th birthday.
Reports claim that less than 70% of the population in Hungary have savings of any kind. One of the reasons is that there is a growing number of people living beneath the bread-line. Three brainy Hungarian bankers are said to have devised a scheme (similar to Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Bank) where impoverished Hungarians, [...]
World-renowned Hungarian porcelain manufacturing company Zsolnay is reportedly boosting its production output following the recent capital injections by various owners, due to be carried out before the end of August this year. One of the new owners Manufaktura Befekteto is allegedly investing some HUF 730 million, partly by acquiring a 49% stake in Zsolnay from [...]
The number of new car sales in Hungary increased after almost a year, according to the Hungarian Association of Vehicle Importers (MGE). The number of new passenger vehicles in July 2010 were 4,359 (up 19% year-on-year), while the number of light commercial vehicles (LCV) were 855 (up 49% year-on –year). According to market researchers there [...]
Hungarians will be permitted to make their own vodka-style moonshine, known as Palinka (min 40% alcohol content) after a law was passed putting home-made Palinka in the same category as other home-made delicacies. Already small alcohol distilling manufacturers (mostly enjoying a monopoly situation) are complaining that they will go out of business once people are [...]
The Budapest City Council has reportedly scrapped even the idea of hosting what has become a family household name – the Red Bull Air race – due lack of funding. The council argues that the Hungarian transport Authority had reportedly earlier decided that the event was dangerous and hazardous to the environment and did not [...]
Hungary’s youngest mobile internet service provider Business Telcom (Btel) is allegedly pleased with the developments of its two-year agreement signed earlier this year with Vodafone Hungary, the local arm of England’s leading mobile service provider Vodafone Plc. The company is offering monthly internet access packages of between 1-8GB. Based on the increasing number of mobile [...]
Budapest’s ferihegy International Airport has reportedly increased security measures after an veiled EU audit revealed various ‘ hazardous ’ items had been allowed to pass through its security monitoring system. The increased security is expected to effect some 10% of all passenger turnover, based on information from the authorities. The airport has reportedly been demoted [...]
For centuries the people of Visegrad have been drinking and – yes – exporting their beloved mineral water from the tiny town of Visegrad in the Danube bend of northern Hungary. Rumor has it that Roman legions, who lived in the region 9along the river that was then the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire), [...]
The Budapest Transport Co. (BKV) will reportedly see a late arrival of underground train carriages, due to the fact that Hungary’s transport authority (NKH) has refused to issue a running permit the French rolling stock company Alstom on the goulash capital’s refurbished M2 and newly built M4 underground routes. NKH argues that Alstrom’s so-called Metropol [...]
Hungary’s financial and banking supervision PSzAF is reportedly conducting an in-depth probe at 500 banks nationwide after consumers complained they felt that their interests were not sufficiently represented at these institutions. Banks are said to have misled the public with false advertising and speculative measures, especially in the areas of passing on a new bank [...]
Hungary’s center-right government coalition has pledged to allocate a whopping HUF 1-trillion to strengthen small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to help boost its ailing economy. The money has been promised to arrive to the SMEs by no later than December 31, 2013 via EU funds secured by Hungary’s Ministry of national Development. The ministry [...]
Hungarian executives are reportedly still questioning why the chief financial officer (CFO) of the Hungarian division of Britain’s biggest retailing chain Tesco is forced to quit her position. CFO Erzsebet Antal, who earlier also did a remarkable job at the helm of Hungarian airlines MALEV, had earlier this year allegedly announced her resignation and is [...]
Hungary’s Richter Gedeon pharmaceuticals company says its expects to see sales increase by at least 10% in Russia and its former satellite states, while also anticipating 5% rise in sales in Hungary this year. At the same time the company’s sales are expected to decrease som 20% in the United States. Based on its H1/2010 [...]
Hungary’s National Transport Authority (NKH) has grounded several malfunctioning small buses belonging to the corrupt Budapest Transport Company (BKV). Authorities are now investigating the service condition of these buses. Reportedly the road-worthiness some 30 BKV buses have been revoked. The process will cause heavy delays on major routes extending the commuter waiting period by at [...]
With incoming news of most British banks turning profitable once again, British tax-payers are putting pressure on their government to persuade banks to hand out loans again to help boost local industries and enterprise. The UK-based HSBC bank has boasted gross profits of USD11.1-billion for H1/2010, up more than 200% year-on year compared to its [...]
This year in September the Budapest-based American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary (AmCham) is further expanding on its so-called high performance Career School initiative series (launched in September 2009), according to Laszlo Metzing, AmCham Chief Operating Officer and Committee Coordinator. He added that the chamber plans to boost its activities by creating the third in [...]
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