Jobbik queries foreign ministry over trading house losses

Budapest, August 29 (MTI) – The Jobbik party has asked Hungary’s foreign ministry to explain why the National Trading Houses it runs accumulated losses of 6 billion forints (EUR 19.4m) in 2015.

The trading houses tasked with promoting Hungarian products and services on international markets have little to show for their efforts, Jobbik lawmaker Marton Gyöngyösi told a press conference on Monday, citing the agency’s latest financial report.

Hungarian small and medium-sized firms received scant support from the agency while multinationals in Hungary performed far better without any support from the agency, he said.

Running the trading houses at various locations abroad is costly, he said, noting that the agency’s 141 employees each earn around 720,000 forints (EUR 2,200) a month, he said.

Gyöngyösi complained that the agency running the trading houses had signed contracts with a relative of central bank governor and two former lawmakers of the ruling Fidesz party.

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Asked about the planned appointment of a former MEP of the opposition Socialists and a former lawmaker of opposition LMP to diplomatic posts, Gyöngyösi said, “the government is bringing back from the dump of history politicians from the previous government’s era instead of holding them to account”.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI