Magyar Government Moves to Terminate HUF 23-Trillion MKIF Motorway Concession, Files Criminal Complaint

PM Péter Magyar and Transportation and Investment Minister Dávid Vitézy announced on September 18 that the government will terminate the 35-year motorway concession held by MKIF (Magyar Koncessziós Infrastruktúra Fejlesztő), a company tied to Orbán-era businessmen Lőrinc Mészáros and László Szíjj. Signed in 2022 to run until 2057, the deal covered operation, maintenance and development of a large share of Hungary's motorway network at a projected lifetime cost of roughly HUF 23,000 billion (~€57B); the government says it can do the same maintenance work for HUF 50 billion instead of MKIF's HUF 150 billion. Vitézy said the single, undivided concession let MKIF pick suppliers without public tenders in violation of Hungarian and EU procurement law. The move builds on a criminal complaint the Transport Ministry filed August 29 alleging breach of trust and abuse of office causing especially large financial disadvantage; MKIF has reserved its contractual rights, raising the prospect of a legal dispute over returning equipment, vehicles and facilities transferred to it in 2022. On September 21 Magyar called the termination 'the largest asset recovery in history.'