Qatar may help Hungary purchase Budapest Airport Zrt., a multi-billion dollar endeavour that has been stalled for two years because of a ballooning budget deficit, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
(Bloomberg) — Qatar may help Hungary purchase Budapest Airport Zrt., a multi-billion dollar endeavour that has been stalled for two years because of a ballooning budget deficit, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
Hungary has continued to search for financing or partners in its quest to regain ownership of the Budapest hub, with a senior government official saying last month that the government was targeting a deal by year-end.
The government is in talks with Qatar to provide financing or be an investor in Budapest Airport, Orban said in an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait on Tuesday at the Qatar Economic Forum. He said talks are ongoing and no decision has been made.
“We would be happy to welcome them,” Orban said in reference to Qatar. “We are ready to be involved as well, strategic investment is what we need in Budapest Airport, it’s not just to buy out but to have a big scheme to develop it.”
Hungary was in advanced talks to purchase Budapest Airport for a reported €4.44 billion ($4.8 billion) in 2021 from the consortium of current owners led by AviAlliance, a Germany-based airport management company and the hub’s biggest shareholder.
“We are in the middle of Europe, all the roads run through Hungary,” Orban said. “The airport has a strategic importance to us.”
Record pre-election spending ahead of the 2022 general elections forced Orban to put the project on hold. The budget continues to be under strain after a record $8 billion deficit through April, the widest shortfall in the first four months of the year.
That hasn’t dissuaded the nation’s premier from big-ticket purchases, which have been part of a drive to boost local ownership in a widening circle of economic sectors that includes energy, telecommunications, retail and banking.
Orban’s critics have alleged that taxpayer money has ended up enriching the premier’s family and closest political and business allies. In January, the government helped 4iG Nyrt., a local firm Orban is grooming to be a national telecommunications champion, gain a majority stake in Vodafone Plc’s Hungarian business in a $1.9 billion deal.
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