They are the most influential company-owner families in Hungary

TőzsdeFórum reports, based on the latest issue of Hungarian Forbes, that Sándor Csányi and his agricultural empire is on top of the list of the most successful entrepreneur families in Hungary. This is the third time that Forbes compiled such a list.

This list showcases perfectly how the change of regime impacted people’s spirit of business. There are a lot of entrepreneurs who started off low, who did not chase their dreams, but simply wanted to be better and more efficient at what they were good at, or to improve the situation that the communist state could not handle properly. TőzsdeFórum argues that the government still has a lot to say in these matters, stating that ‘what they were afraid to touch previously, now they are holding onto with strong hands’. Thus some people get help from the government, and others are lifted up to the top, even though they did nothing for it. The following is an excerpt (taking into consideration only the top three) of the list containing the 25 most wealthy family ventures in Hungary in 2017.

The Csányi Family

Bonafarm group, KITE Ltd., MCS Vágóhíd Ltd.
Estimated goodwill: 113.4 billion forints ~ 370 million EUR

The agricultural empire belonging to the bank CEO’s family is constantly expanding, while the EBITDA* of the group level Bonafarm has further declined this year, owing to the change in agrarian supports. The Csányi’s are planning to invest over 100 billion forints (~ 327 million EUR) in the next decade. This claim is supported by the fact that Sándor Csányi carried out a 28.3 billion forints (~ 92 mill EUR) capital increase at Bonafarm Zrt in January, and he even bought back the MCS Vágóhíd Ltd. that is behind the slaughterhouse at Mohács.

Csányi could easily buy the Bellye Ltd. (the subsidiary of the Croatian Agrokor), and with this move – Jutarnji List daily argues – he would become Europe’s biggest landowner. With getting hold of KITE Ltd. (this agricultural integrator company deals with the majority of Hungarian landowners), the Bonafarm group has strengthened its position in the agrarian scene. The slaughterhouse at Mohács is now operating at a 75 percent capacity.