Budapest, December 3 (MTI) – The government is planning to have Hungary’s pavilion moved from the Milan Expo to Karcag, in eastern Hungary, Janos Lazar, head of the government office, said at a regular government press conference on Thursday.

The government has selected Karcag out of five applicant cities to host the pavilion, Lazar said. He added that “Italy has taken the pavilion hostage” but the government would make efforts to recover it.

On another subject, Lazar said that the government had approved plans for a new soccer stadium to be built in the city of Szeged, southern Hungary.

At a session on Wednesday, the government also agreed to contribute financing towards the democracy centre at the Tom Lantos Institute, Lazar said.

Answering questions about plans to move government headquarters to the Castle District, Lazar said that it was a long-term plan spanning the next 20 years. The plans focus on moving the prime minister’s office to the presidential Sandor Palace, while the chancellery would occupy the former Carmelite monastery next to it, and the offices of the President would be moved to the Royal Palace.

Lazar also announced that some 200 billion forints (EUR 639m) in direct EU subsidies will have been paid out to Hungarian farmers by the end of the year.

Concerning the sales of state-owned plots of farmland, now under way, Lazar said that prospective buyers have applied for a total 193 billion forints (EUR 617m) of loans to help them with the purchases, and added that the Hungarian Development Bank, providing the loans, will need additional coverage from the central bank. So far, some 50,000 hectares have been auctioned at a total price of 70 billion forints (EUR 224m). He added that the auctions would probably continue in January.

The government will start new negotiations with the European Commission concerning Hungary’s utility cuts programme with the aim of protecting the scheme, Lazar said. He noted that the Commission had launched infringement procedures against ten member states over similar programmes, and said that Hungary would seek allies among those countries.

Concerning a recent amendment to Hungary’s public procurement law, Lazar insisted that the changes mean that now the legislation is “Europe’s strictest” because it stipulates that family members of senior state officials living in the same household are barred from bidding for public projects. Lazar rejected allegations that the changes should have been tailored to benefit certain persons. “The government has adopted the principle that distant relatives should not be excluded from public purchases,” he said.

Answering a question, Lazar said that he had raised the salaries of state companies within his authority. He argued that “good experts are difficult to engage unless competitive salaries are offered”. He noted that senior officials in the banking sector made a monthly 5 million forints (EUR 16,000), while heads of smaller companies earned 2-3 million forints.

Budapest, September 10 (MTI) – The Hungarian pavilion at the Milan World Expo attracted over 1.4 million visitors in its first four months, drawing over one tenth of the expo’s visitors, the Hungarian pavilion’s spokeswoman told MTI.

Since its opening in May, the expo was visited by no less than 12.2 million, Flora Retfalvi said, adding that attendance figures show that the Milan Expo is on track to hit its target of 20 million visitors. Retfalvi said the Hungarian pavilion’s visitor count of more than 1.4 million made it one of the most popular pavilions at the expo. She said Hungary drew its highest number of visitors in August with 406,000 people checking out the pavilion.

Last weekend, Hungary set new attendance records for Saturday and Sunday, drawing 26,117 and 22,943 visitors respectively, Retfalvi said.

Budapest, August 11 (MTI) – The Hungarian pavilion at the Milan World Expo attracted nearly a million visitors in its first three months, the government commissioner in charge of the pavilion said on Tuesday.

“By half time”, the expo was visited by more than 10 million people and one-tenth of them also saw the Hungarian pavilion, Geza Szocs told a press conference.

Among the Hungarian “feats” presented at the expo, he highlighted the “miracle piano” developed by Gergely Boganyi, the uniforms worn by Hungarian hostesses that fetched a top prize for their designer Dora Abodi, and Hungarian mineral water, beer, paprika, honey and trotters.

During the six months of the expo, Hungary is to present more than 10 exhibitions, 150 dancers, 70 musicians, 45 Hungaricums and 10 conferences. The concerts, exhibitions and performances are held not only in Milan but also in nearby towns including Cremona, Monza and Varese, he said.

On August 18, all three of the Olympic chess champion Polgar sisters will play at a simultaneous exhibition, where the head of the Italian chess federation also plans to participate, he added.

Photo: MTI

The Hungarian pavilion of the Milanese universal expo will be 1910 square meters and will have about 3000 square meters usable area.

According to hvg.hu, the two shaman drums at the two ends of the building refer to the ancient roots, the mythic relation of human and nature while the middle could represent a barrel symbolizing abundance or simply the ark of Noah, with the roof garden standing for the kaleidoscope of wildlife- says the introduction of the plan.

The overreaching ribs or staves of the roof garden can even be parts of a gigantic skeleton, but they also represent openness to above, turning to the sunlight or the petals surrounding the “essence”- added the architects.

MTI said, the Hungarian government will spend a total 4.7 billion forints on the pavilion representing the country at the 2015 World Expo in Milan, Geza Szocs, government commissioner in charge of the project.

based on article of hvg.hu, MTI
by Oliver Tamasi

Photo: MTI – Carpathia