Former PM Gyurcsány top earner among party leaders last year

Democratic Coalition leader Ferenc Gyurcsány increased his wealth by 200 million forints (EUR 643,700) in 2017, making him the top earner among the leaders of Hungary’s parliamentary parties for the second year in a row, as revealed by the latest asset declarations of lawmakers.

The former prime minister had 606 million forints in savings last year, 36 million forints less than in 2016. He made 228 million forints in dividends from his company, Altus.

Gyurcsány also paid off 1.8 million forints of a mortgage on a plot he had bought with his wife in Kötcse, in southwestern Hungary. The DK leader also declared a 50 sqm apartment in Pápa, in western Hungary.

Meanwhile, the Thursday edition of daily Magyar Idők said Gyurcsány had undeclared assets of more than 150 million forints held on an Austrian bank account.

The paper said Gyurcsány’s undeclared assets were on an account at Schoellerbank, “an exclusive, privately-owned financial institution . which prides itself in having recently been named Austria’s number one elite bank in a Handelsblatt survey for the sixth consecutive year”.

In response, DK said the paper “is lying”, Gyurcsány had declared his assets “precisely, in full and in keeping with the rules of law”. The ex-premier had kept his securities of 606 million forints with a Hungarian and an Austrian bank as well as with two Hungarian financial service providers as declared.

DK said Gyurcsány would take legal steps against Magyar Idők.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán submitted his annual asset declaration to parliament on Wednesday, reporting “no significant change” compared to last year, the PM’s press chief has said. According to Bertalan Havasi, Orbán had savings of 993,000 forints, up from 742,000 last year. At the same time, Orbán had reduced the balance of a mortgage on his house to 4.78 million forints, he said.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/GyurcsányFerenc

Source: MTI