Public transport in Budapest to go bankrupt and stop soon?

The Budapest Transport Centre may go bankrupt. This is because they could get a fine in connection with renovating the Chain Bridge, and they are not able to pay for it. A company that performs the Chain Bridge renovation can expect a severe fine for a minor mistake.

Public transport in Budapest is close to bankruptcy

The Budapest Transport Centre (Budapest Közlekedési Központ — BKK) may receive fines of up to HUF 3 billion from the Public Procurement Arbitration Committee. The reason for this is that, according to the chairman of the Public Procurement Authority, A-Híd Zrt., which is renovating the Chain Bridge, did not announce its subcontractors in time, writes Népszava.

In August 2021, the Public Procurement Authority launched an inspection in connection with the renovation of the Chain Bridge on the basis of a public interest announcement. The contractor, A-Híd Zrt. announced its 19 subcontractors late.

BKK, the contracting authority, did not notice the error either.

This is also interesting because BKK carried out several on-site inspections and saw, among other things, the contractor’s invoices and the construction log. The Public Procurement Authority did not tell napi.hu how often it is necessary to start an investigation into the public procurement procedure.

The renovation of the Chain Bridge is not interrupted by the procedure.

There was no breach of contract. However, the fine can be very painful, as the upper limit is 15 per cent of the contract, which would be HUF 3 billion.

BKK is in trouble

There have been several rumours in the past that BKK, and thus public transport in the Hungarian capital, are in a difficult situation. Also, in November 2021, you could read about the near-bankruptcy situation of the company in several places. Then, the company distributed Christmas bonuses to its employees, dispelling doubts.

The coronavirus epidemic also put BKK in a difficult position.

This is because public transport in the capital operated in the same way during the virus, but there were fewer passengers. In addition, the economic situation was not favourable for the company. BKK’s ticket sales were HUF 18 billion in the first half of 2021, compared to almost twice as much in 2019.

Hopefully, the situation is not so serious, and public transport in Budapest can still serve the Hungarian capital without interruption.

• This is how the renovation of the iconic Chain Bridge continues — PHOTO GALLERY
• New time-based public transport tickets are available in Budapest

Source: napi.hu, Népszava