Rákosrendező development project: government has called for the site to be cleaned up to the tune of EUR 62m

The construction and transport ministry will handle all government issues related to the Rákosrendező development project in Budapest, János Lázár, the ministry’s head, said on Tuesday, referring to a decision made by the prime minister the previous day.

The ministry will negotiate with the Budapest administration once the purchase contract and ownership registration is signed. Lázár told a press conference in Sopron, in western Hungary, adding that he hoped for “a good agreement and cooperation”. The purchase contract’s annex contains a schedule of measures, he said.

A ministerial commissioner will be appointed to see to various ministry tasks and enter into talks, he noted.

Cleaning up the area will be the top priority requiring the capital’s cooperation, he said, adding that this issue was not directly related to the purchase contract. He said that the metropolitan council would have to immediately remove 330,000 cubic meters of waste from the area at a cost of up to 25 billion forints (EUR 62.5m), adding that the government would cooperate and provide related administrative and legal assistance.

Also, the area where national rail company MÁV operates must be delineated, the minister said, and MÁV would have to make use of land there to “the necessary and minimum extent”.

Lázár added that talks will be held on the part of the contract worth more than EUR 62 million (25 billion forints).

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UPDATE

Gergely Karácsony said in a Facebook post that a partnership with the government was needed in order to carry off an investment on such a scale, and he accused the government of “going back and forth” just as it had done when claiming previously that Budapest did not have pre-emption rights. Exercising this right would serve the city’s future rather than “the interests of Arab investors and oligarchs close to the government”. The mayor also accused the Hungarian state of having been a negligent custodian of the area for decades, tolerating and actively taking part in “illegal dumping” of waste. Once Budapest “takes possession” of the area, the Budapest Public Utilities (BKM) company would capably oversee the clean-up, he said. This, he added, “won’t happen overnight”, but “we”ll do our job”.

Karácsony welcomed the government’s appointment of Lázár to take charge of tasks related to the project. He insisted that Lazar had not read the purchase agreement, however, saying that “contrary to all government statements”, the state sold the area “to the Arab investor without the buyer having undertaken any obligation” to clean it up. The purchase agreement states that the Hungarian state and the buyer — now the metropolitan council — must conclude a separate agreement on the issue of environmental damage and waste management, as well as how the costs are borne. “We’re ready for this,” he said, adding that Budapest would begin clearing municipal waste “as soon as it takes possession” of the area. But the state, he added, bore responsibility for the cost of clearing construction debris of the Budapest Sports Hall as well as waste generated by national rail company MÁV. Karácsony said the purchase contract was “clear” and obliged both the government and Budapest to undertake waste disposal tasks.