HungaryTrends – The most important business and finance news

See below main business and financial news from the previous week:

NEWS FROM THE REAL ESTATE MARKET: RENTAL PRICES IN BUDAPEST

The average rental price on the real estate market in the Hungarian capital increased from last year’s 130 thousand HUF (420 Euros) to 140 thousand HUF (450 Euros) per month. Read more HERE.

FREE HOME DELIVERY COMES TO ITS END IN HUNGARY?

Despite the constant growth of online commerce, home delivery services suffer from serious labour shortage problems in Hungary. Therefore, they do not have enough drivers to deliver the goods and those who already work at the company have to be well paid to make them stay. Can home delivery come to its end in Hungary? Let’s see what the results show. Read more HERE.

DANUBE BANK GETTING GREEN AT BUDA

The result of the recent competition was announced: it was revealed that the coastline of the Danube between Felhévíz and Budapest University of Technology and Economics will be rebuilt on four sections. Two entries applied for the competition related to the new view of the Danube at the Buda side, both will be carried out. Read more HERE.

GE HUNGARY WINS PAKS TURBINE TENDER

A consortium led by the local unit of General Electric won a 793 million euro tender to supply turbines for two new blocks at the Paks nuclear power plant. GE Hungary, partnering with GE unit Alstom Power Systems, beat Russia’s Silovye Mashiny in the tender.

NBH ALLOCATES HUF 75 BN OF IRSS TO FLATTEN YIELD CURVE AT FIRST TENDER

The National Bank of Hungary allocated 75 billion forints (EUR 242m) of monetary policy interest rate swaps (MIRS) at the first tender for the instruments designed to flatten the yield curve, well over the 50.0 billion forints announced offer. The average accepted fixed rates were 0.76 percent for the five-year swap and 1.46 percent for the ten-year MIRS, well under the yields of the respective secondary market benchmarks of 1.03 percent and 2.05 percent on the day of the tender.

DRAFT LEGISLATION WOULD LEVY 25 PC DUTY ON SUPPORTERS OF ILLEGAL MIGRATION

Hungary’s government announced draft legislation that would make data provision mandatory for supporters of illegal migration and levy a 25 percent duty on support they receive from abroad. The legislation dubbed the “Stop Soros” package would also allow the issue of restraining orders for individuals who organise illegal migration.

PM ORBÁN MEETS AUMOTIVE INDUSTRY EXECS

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with German carmaker Audi’s executive in charge of production Peter Kossler and the head of the company’s Hungarian unit Achim Heinfling in Budapest. He also met with the top executives of India’s Apollo Tyres, discussing the possibility of expanding the company’s local activities with chairman Onkar Kanwar and vice chairman and managing director Neeraj Kanwar.

V4 PMS TO DISCUSS REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT BANK

The prime ministers of the Visegrad Group — Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia — will decide on the time frame for establishing a regional development bank at a summit in Budapest on January 26, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a weekly interview on public radio. Orban discussed the establishment of the bank with his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki at a meeting in Budapest early in January.

B.BRAUN TO BUILD HUF 30.7 BN PLANT

Government and company officials announced that German-owned B.Braun Medical Magyarorszag will build a 30.7 billion forint intravenous kit plant at its base in Gyongyos (NE Hungary). The government is awarding the company a 6.1 billion forint grant to support the investment which will create more than 400 jobs.

DELOITTE OPENS CYBER INTELLIGENCE CENTRE IN BUDAPEST

Consultancy Deloitte announced the opening of a Cyber Intelligence Centre (CIC) in Budapest. The centre will employ a staff of 40 to provide services for 18 countries in the region.

HUNGARIAN-OWNED BALABIT ACQUIRED BY ONE IDENTITY

One Identity, the identity and access management unit of US-based Quest Software, has acquired Hungarian-owned Balabit, Balabit’s founder and managing director announced. The acquisition creates new opportunities for Balabit in terms of further technological and market development, said Zoltán Györkő. The price of the deal was not disclosed.

HIGHER COSTS COULD RAISE MODERN CITIES ALLOCATION BY HUF 150 BN

Higher costs could raise the more than 3,500 billion forint allocation for the Modern Cities programme, which supports developments in the country’s biggest cities and county seats, by a little under 150 billion forints, minister without portfolio in charge of developments Lajos Kósa said. Projects with a value of over 600 billion forints have been implemented in the framework of the programme so far.

HOME PRICES IN HUNGARY UP 10.2 PC IN THIRD QUARTER

The prices of homes in Hungary rose 10.2 percent in the third quarter from the same period a year earlier, data released by Eurostat showed. The rate of increase was under that in the Czech Republic but over the rates in Slovakia and Poland. Read more HERE.