200-year-old confectionery in Buda Castle closes doors after mayor’s bribery scandal

The Ruszwurm confectionery has been the talk of the city for the last two centuries. However, these past weeks, they surpassed themselves.

To say the least, the Ruszwurm has been a well-known spot that has survived multiple historical events. The building itself sustained some damage, but they kept open through every ordeal so far. This persistence seems to come to an end this year. The owner, Miklós Szamos, provided insight into the happenings at Ruszwurm and the Budavár district. You can read more about Ruszwurm HERE.

According to Miklós Szamos, the districtal mayor candidate of 2019, Márta V. Naszályi approached him and asked him for financial support for her campaign, which he promptly refused. Upon elaboration, he said he was aked for money a total of two times, and offered protection in exchange. This protection would mean that his confectionery can’t be closed for good. He refused both times.

Turns out, there’s actually an ongoing enforcement procedure against both Ruszwurm and the other concerned confectionery, Korona. There have been speculation flying around whether this enforcement is the doing of the present districtal mayor. Márta V. Naszályi denies these allegations. We wrote about the scandal around the confectionery a couple days ago, which you can read HERE.

She and the Budavár District have published an official response to the scandal and the speculation stemming from it. In this official response, they address the enforcement procedure and outline the happenings in a clear chronological order. Based on this account, the events were not so black and white as described above.

It started in 2015, when the, back then Fidesz-led, Budavár district terminated the lease agreement of the Ruszwurm premises. When the premises were not vacated, the district filed for eviction in 2019. This was still under the previous mayor, whom Márta V. Naszályi succeeded that same year.

The lawsuit was inherited by the new mayor, who has suspended the lawsuit on Ruszwurm Ltd.’s initiative to try and settle for an out-of-court agreement. When no preliminary agreement was reached, the lawsuit continued and was won by the district. When Ruszwurm Ltd. did not cooperate with the final judgement of the court, the enforcement procedure was set in motion. This enforcement procedure includes the suspending of their commercial licence and a lock change on the premises.

The cherry on top of the cake? Districtal mayor Márta V. Naszályi has filed for a defamation complaint against Miklós Szamos.

Seems like it’s not a good year for the Szamos company. Even more so, because with this official report, we can be sure that the Ruszwurm and Korona confectionaries will close for good. Make sure you visit them before the 4th of December!