Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday hailed the government’s “strategically important” takeover of the Budapest airport, part of his drive to nationalise key assets.
The Hungarian government-owned Corvinus International Investment and France’s Vinci Airports agreed on Thursday to buy Budapest airport for 3.1 billion euros ($3.3 billion), in addition to taking over a 1.2-billion-euro debt from the previous owners, according to the economy ministry.
Corvinus will hold an 80 percent stake, while Vinci will own the rest.
Orban, who returned to power in 2010, has been long seeking to buy back the airport sold to a consortium led by Germany’s AviAlliance almost two decades ago, highlighting its “strategic importance”.
“We have recovered a unique good… Our plan is to rapidly increase its value,” the nationalist premier said, praising the French partner’s know-how, while evoking future “plans to involve the Qataris”.
Highly in debt, the Hungarian government had to sell several assets to raise the necessary finances for the airport acquisition.
With traffic expected to reach record yearly levels of 17 million passengers in 2024, Budapest Airport is currently the 39th busiest in Europe, according to Brussels-based Eurocontrol.
As part of the airport’s expansion plans, it is offering more flights to China, which has become the leading investor in Hungary under the government’s “eastern opening” policy.
Orban’s government — which critics frequently accuse of corruption — has moved to take over assets in strategic sectors, such as banking and telecommunications.
Dismissing corruption claims, Orban insists that capital should be in the hands of a homegrown “class of Hungarian entrepreneurs” rather than profiteering multinationals.
