What’s happening? Half a Hungarian county could end up in foreign hands

The number of asset management foundations in Hungary has surged, and the latest one, the Harmony Asset Management Foundation, has been established by a Belgian-born billionaire family that owns a significant portion of Somogy County – meaning that the fate of half a county could soon lie in the hands of a foreign-rooted organisation.

By the end of November, the number of mainly foreign-led asset management foundations in Hungary had reached 105, and the most recently registered organisation, the Harmony Asset Management Foundation, deserves particular attention.

Its founders are members of a billionaire family whose economic empire covers a substantial part of Somogy County, writes Menedzsment Fórum.

The rise of asset management foundations

In recent months, the establishment of asset management foundations has accelerated sharply. At the end of July, the 95th foundation was set up; by September the number had reached 98, and by early October it had exceeded 100.

On 21 November, the 105th foundation – the Harmony Asset Management Foundation – was created by Christophe Claessens and his wife, Katalin.

According to court documents, the goal is clear: to preserve and maintain, in the long term, the assets placed into the foundation by its founders, and to use the resulting income to ensure the financial security of the primary and secondary beneficiaries across generations.

A family with Belgian roots

The Claessens family is well-known in Somogy County. With Belgian roots and activities spanning several branches of agriculture, the family has been purchasing land and building an agrarian empire in the region since the 1990s.

The history of the Claessens Group began in 1995 with the purchase of the successor company of the South Somogy State Farm, and since then they have accumulated land through successive auctions.

One branch of the family – led by Peter and Johan Claessens – possessed assets worth 32.4 billion forints in 2022, making them the 55th wealthiest in Hungary. Their activities primarily involve dairy farming and feed production, and in 2022 they received nearly 3 billion forints in rural development funding.