Prime Minister Péter Magyar called on MBH Bank and Lőrinc Mészáros, who has ties to business interests with stakes in the lender, to reinstate a charity programme benefitting children from low-income households with good grades in a post on Facebook on Monday.
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Magyar said that the International Children’s Safety Service had announced that MBH Bank had pulled support for the programme, after 32 years, while moving forward with the construction of a new corporate headquarters, “in an untransparent manner”, at a cost of more than HUF 100bn.
In the name of the state of Hungary, which is also a stakeholder in MBH Bank, Magyar called on Mészáros and MBH Bank to publish the details of the new HQ, including the plans and the name of the general contractor, MTI wrote.
MBH Bank, Hungary’s second-largest commercial lender, is listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange. A little more than 25pc of the bank’s shares are in free float.
Péter Magyar wrote in a Facebook post that Mészáros’s bank had helped 100 low‑income, high‑achieving students under a programme it now plans to cancel.
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The bank responded
The scholarship was open to outstanding students from families whose per‑capita monthly income was below HUF 55,000 (about €151). Recipients received HUF 800,000 a year (roughly €2,200), equivalent to around €183 per month.The bank’s full‑year profit for 2025 stood at HUF 240 billion (€661 million).
In response to a statement by the International Children’s Safety Service, the bank said it was “baffled” that the organisation had taken the matter to the press. MBH Bank stated that its decision to withdraw from the programme had been made last year and that the organisation had been given a year to prepare for the consequences. The bank did not respond directly to Péter Magyar’s remarks, but added that it had spent “tens of millions of forints” on the scheme in recent years.
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I hate banks but they are a private enterprise and for the government to make public statements about what this bank should do with its money is outrageous. It’s something worthy of a third-world banana republic.
Stay in your lane, “Peti.”
It’s an ironic statement considering the degree to which the previous government sought fit to intervene in the banking sector. Marton’s “there’s room for 5 banks in Hungary” comment, labelling Erste the “merchants of death”, the arbitrary sectoral taxes, the ATM rules, the artificial construct of MBH, the transaction tax that was capped at 20k HUF, shall I continue?
Do not intervene you dirtly nose with Hungarian matters you little bastersd idiot
Talking about “third-world banana republic”… Just a day a go it was announced that the chief economist Andrei Klepach at Russia’s second-largest bank was fired after saying the truth about how the aggressive Russian war attack on Ukraine is influencing on Russian economy.
“The independent Russian outlet the Bell reported, citing sources, that Klepach was fired on orders from the Kremlin— ”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/17/andrei-klepach-russian-banker-fired-warning-economy
Meszaros’ wealth is notable only for the degree to which it has remained close to his chest since the election result. I think everyone of all political stripes expected the purse strings to loosen following the defeat and Meszaros to step into the breach to help fund Fidesz aligned media and MCC. The fact that he’s not done so suggests that he has either broken ranks and decided that he’s not willing to spend money flogging a dead horse, or that part of his wealth belongs to Orban as many suspect who in turn has decided that he’s not willing to flog a dead horse. Either way, it’s a pretty damning indictment on the state of Fidesz.
Irrespective of the financial background of MBH it’s pretty sad that they’ve decided to cancel this program saving what they spend on ground coffee at their headquarters in a month.
Here too, Magyar Peter proves once again to be a cunning demagogue, a loudmouth who achieves nothing himself.
It is every conscious Hungatians duty to switch away from using corrupt MBH bank services.
I opened at account with Erste the moment the erstwhile government started terrorising them for no reason that I could establish beyond the fact that they’re Austrian. Their private banking suite on Vorosmarty ter is a nice place to visit where you feel welcomed as a client.