Offshore coffee company received EU funds

In a reply to the written parliamentary question (Hungarian, pdf) of two Jobbik members of Parliament, Minister of National Development Zsuzsa Németh disclosed (Hungarian, pdf) the subsidies provided by the European Regional Development Fund and Hungary to a list of companies. Altogether 3.5 billion Hungarian forints worth of subsidies were provided to the 74 companies cited in the question. For example, Hungarian celebrity reporter Tamás Frei’s company “Café Frei Vendéglátó és Kereskedelmi Kft.” received 51.5 million non-repayable funds just a week before Café Frei got listed as “company with offshore background”. According to the minister’s answer the ministry didn’t inquire into the background of the companies applying for funds. The minister indicated that she would start an investigation of the case at the National Development Agency. In the meantime, LMP party filed a complaint of abuse of authority committed by unknown suspects.

Read the original article in Hungarian here.