Minister to chop up one of the biggest Hungarian state-owned transport companies

János Lázár, Hungary’s construction and development minister, is to chop up the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) because he believes that it cannot continue to operate in its current form. However, something else may be in the background.

The Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) struggles with lots of problems. There is not enough workforce to operate the trains and the system. Moreover, there is not enough money to develop the outdated rail lines and electric cables. As a result, delays are regular. For example, Austria detached the Hungarian railway system for weeks from the Western European network, so passengers needed to change trains in Vienna. We wrote about that HERE in detail.

According to telex.hu, Artúr Kikina, MÁV’s new deputy CEO responsible for railway network operation and investments, said in a conference that MÁV would operate as a holding from this autumn. Mr Kikina worked for János Lázár as deputy secretary before.

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Last September saw a war between Lázár and the leadership of MÁV, during which the minister decapitated the state-owned company. However, he could not send away Zoltán Pafféri, the CEO of MÁV, who has good relationships with Fidesz leaders.

Therefore, Lázár and his former deputy secretary would dismember one of Hungary’s biggest companies. One of the new firms will be responsible for the portfolio of Mr Kikina (railway network operation and investments). Meanwhile, the remaining part will become empty, but Pafféri can remain CEO.