Budapest’s treasures are being sold off: Downtown state palaces can secretly end up in private hands

A new real estate scandal has sparked outrage in Budapest: the government is quietly selling off dozens of state-owned landmark buildings in the city’s historic downtown, without any consultation. According to the opposition, the move is intended to transfer national assets to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s son-in-law, István Tiborcz, and his business circle. 

A fire sale of Budapest?

As reported by HVG, a fresh controversy has engulfed Budapest’s political scene in recent days: the government plans to sell off dozens of state-owned properties located in the heart of the capital—quietly, with just a few days’ notice—via a PDF uploaded to the Hungarian National Asset Management Inc. (MNV) website.

The list includes historically significant buildings such as the former Ministry of Interior on Széchenyi Square, the Ministry of Finance’s palace on József Nádor Square, and the tile-roofed Hungarian State Treasury on Hold Street. These iconic landmarks are poised to change hands without any input from the city’s administration, and with no accompanying urban development plan or long-term vision. Dávid Vitézy, leader of the Podmaniczky Movement, warned: “The government is practically holding a clearance sale in Budapest.”

Privatisation or plunder?

But critics argue this isn’t merely reckless asset dumping. According to Péter Magyar, president of the Tisza Party, this is an orchestrated transfer of wealth, potentially resulting in these high-value properties landing in the hands of István Tiborcz and his associates. Magyar insists that this is not traditional privatisation but outright “plundering”, facilitated by private capital inflated with public funds. He pointed out that, under János Lázár’s leadership, the government previously purchased overpriced office buildings from Tiborcz’s companies for around HUF 700 billion—and now, this same money could be used to buy Budapest’s most valuable state-owned palaces.