Hungary’s National Development Ministry is seeking a reasonable compromise with Liszt Ferenc International Airport operator Budapest Airport and with its owners in the matter of an asset management contract, the ministry’s communications department said when asked by MTI.
“The ministry is seeking the construction of a reasonable, acceptable compromise in light of an earlier completed review of the state’s room for manoeuvre,” the ministry said.
Talks on the situation after the grounding of national carrier Malev between the ministry, Budapest Airport and representatives of the airport operator’s owners are ongoing, it added.
The Hungarian National Asset Management Company (MNV) exercises ownership rights over the airport and checks for compliance with terms of the contract, the ministry said.
In the original contract, asset management rights were transferred for 75 years. The privatisation contract was extended from the end of 2011 until the end of 2013 as special development obligations had to be pushed back because of changes to passenger numbers, the ministry said.
The number of passenger departures from Liszt Ferenc Airport fell each year between 2008 and 2010, according to data compiled by the Central Statistics Office (KSH). Departures fell 2.2pc in 2008, 2.1pc in 2009 and 0.4pc in 2010 to 3,870,267, the data show.
Government accountability commissioner Gyula Budai said at a press conference on Wednesday that the state could have to pay Budapest Airport, which operates the airline’s base, almost HUF 1,000bn, if Malev goes under liquidation.
Under the privatisation contract signed by Budapest Airport, the state must pay 90pc of senior debt taken out by the company and 97pc of capital injections it made at the airport if Malev goes under liquidation, Mr Budai explained. He put the senior debt at EUR 1.5bn, in addition to the HUF 60bn value of the company’s shares and HUF 390bn for 75-year management rights for the airport and HUF 15bn for tangible assets.