Fidesz Budapest group slams city leadership over ‘lost revenue’

Fidesz’s Budapest group on Wednesday slammed the city’s “inept” leadership over lost revenue in connection with the lease of outdoor advertising space provided by the public transport network.

“The left-wing Budapest municipality governed by Mayor Gergely Karácsony illegally blocked outdoor advertising company JCDecaux from winning the tender called by BKV,” the Fidesz group said on Facebook.

The leadership’s “arrogance and incompetence” had led to the loss of billions of forints, the statement said.

BKV turned down the French company’s offer after Karacsony decided to prohibit municipal companies from signing contracts for advertising space for periods longer than a year.

Press reports indicate JCDecaux Hungary submitted a bid to BKV of 142 million forints (EUR 395,000) per month for its outdoor advertising, amounting to an annual 1.7 billion as part of a four-year contract.

Fidesz said that instead, BKV received 55 million forints in 2019 and 62 million in 2020 under another contract. The loss, it added, amounted to almost 1 billion forints a year.

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