Money taps to open: Budapest’s BME, one of Europe’s best, becomes a private university
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Hungarian oil and gas company MOL signed an agreement on Monday on the purchase of 100pc of the operator of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) from the state for HUF 50bn, payable in annual installments over ten years.
Budapest’s BME became a private university
“The transaction aims to provide a long-term sustainable and competitive organisational and financing structure for Hungarian engineering and IT education and research and development, and to strengthen MOL’s role in the development of the Hungarian innovation ecosystem,” the company said in an announcement posted on the bourse’s website.
“Through the transaction, MOL will build a knowledge base that will facilitate both the expansion of its R+D and innovation activities and their direct integration into its business operation,” it added.
“Cooperation with BME enables us to train engineers with state-of-the-art knowledge and to carry out real industrial research. This step is not only crucial for the future of MOL, but it can also open new perspectives for other industrial players,” said MOL Group CEO Zsolt Hernádi.
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University autonomy maintained
As part of the new maintenance model for the university, the parties established a 25-year framework agreement and a 6-year financing agreement between BME’s operator and the state of Hungary. This will be further strengthened by revenues from industrial cooperation, grants and tuition fees.
Additionally, the state has agreed to a repurchase commitment for the shares of the operator which can be exercised in the event of a deterioration of the regulatory and operational environment. The state and BME will have veto rights over certain issues, in particular the sale of the shares of the operator and the autonomy of the university.