Budapest must secure HUF 30.5bn for Rákosrendező in 8 days: will it have the money?

Budapest Közművek Nonprofit Ltd (BKM), a utilities company owned by the municipal council of Budapest, is the only party that has exercised pre-emption right for the purchase of a brownfield site designated for development around the Rákosrendező railway station in the north of the capital, the National Economy Ministry said on Friday.
The ministry said that the deadline had passed for Stockton Ltd to exercise its pre-emption rights for the property.
BKM must provide the seller of the property, the state, with an owners’ guarantee or equivalent security for the first two installments of the purchase price, of around HUF 30.5bn, within eight days of signing the contract, the ministry said. Within ten working days, it must transfer 25pc of the total purchase price: HUF 12.7bn, it added.
BKM must sign a contract with state-owned railway company MÁV on regulating the use of areas for rolling stock within 60 days, the ministry said. BKM is also responsible for clean-up at the site, and it must reach an agreement with the Construction and Transportation Ministry outlining regulations necessary for the implementation of planned developments at the site within six months, it added.
The ministry noted that a government decision had been taken in January on the sale of the brownfield site to fulfill conditions in an inter-governmental agreement with the United Arab Emirates.
Mayor Karácsony’s reaction on Rákosrendező acquisition
The Rákosrendező Project Office is being set up and will draft an international tender for a development plan for city leaders to weigh in June, Karácsony said. A masterplan for the area will ensure development that blends with the fabric of the city to create a modern, green district on par with ones in Berlin or Vienna, he added.
The mayor noted that he had asked for a meeting with Construction and Transportation Minister János Lázár to discuss the implementation of tasks assigned to the capital and the state three weeks earlier. He said an agreement had to be reached soon on undertaking infrastructure developments and cleaning up the area.
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