State ownership over Hungary’s most important chateaus should be retained, House Speaker Katalin Szili told reporters during a visit to the famous baroque Esterhazy Chateau at Fertod (W) on Tuesday.
Control over those properties should be governed by “the best owner” principle, Szili said in reference to a recent debate over an initiative to privatise ten chateaus from the national stock.
Szili said that a list of properties should be drawn up indicating those monuments that must not be privatised. She added, however, that private capital should be involved in renovation projects and in running the renewed facilities.
Chateau Esterhazy, built between 1720 and 1766 and often referred to as “the Hungarian Versailles”, is currently being revamped with a planned budget of 1.5 billion forints (EUR 5.4m) for the first phase of the project.