HUN-REN innovation center awarded car fleet tender to Mészáros’s car dealership

In September 2024, the HUN-REN Center issued a public procurement tender for vehicle rental and fleet management services. The tender was jointly won by Mészáros M1 Ltd. and Mészáros M1 Szerviz Ltd., both affiliated with Lőrinc Mészáros. According to HUN-REN, the cars are primarily used by senior management, and the fully equipped features are justified by the responsible and safety-conscious use of the vehicles.

The HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network (formerly Eötvös Loránd Research Network, ELKH) was established by a decision of the Parliament, supposedly to serve as the state’s central organization for innovation funding and to promote scientific research. HUN-REN comprises 11 research centres, 8 research institutes and 116 funded research teams, carrying out basic and applied research in a variety of disciplines, such as natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences and humanities.

HUN-REN receives billions of HUFs in public funding: in 2025, its budget totalled in 66.5 billion HUFs. Going forward, according to a government decree, public funding will increase to HUF 84.5 billion in 2026 and 97 billion in 2027.

In the past decade, the term ‘public spending’ has almost become synonimous with the name Lőrinc Mészáros, the top oligarch allied with Viktor Orbán’s government and now the richest man in Hungary, thansk to his unending streak of winning public tenders.

The spedning of HUN-REN is no exception.

Contracts obtained by Átlátszó show that the research center is renting one SUV and one upper-mid-range sedan for a period of 48 months, or four years, for a total net cost of 32 million forints. The contracts were awarded via two public procurment procedures. In bothe cases, three players submitted bids: Mercarius Fleet Management Ltd., MOL Fleet Solution Ltd., and a consortium of Mészáros M1 Ltd. and Mészáros M1 Szerviz Ltd., and. In one tender, MOL Fleet withdrew its bid during the evaluation phase, and Mercarius’ offer turned out to be more expensive than the Mészáros companies’ offer.

MOL Fleet stayed did not withdraw in the second competition, but once again, the Mészáros-affiliated companies submitted a cheaper bid, so the offers from MOL Fleet and Mercarius were not evaluated.

As a result, both cars will be supplied by the Mészáros companies

– an SUV for a net price of 16.3 million forints, and an upper mid-range car for a net price of 15.8 million forints.

Both cars come with extra safety and comfort features: for the SUV, tinted windows, a central display, automated parking assist, rain sensors, lumbar support, a heated multifunction steering wheel, and more. The upper mid-range sedan has features like a hill-start assist system, blind spot monitoring, a multifunction heated leather steering wheel, and parking sensors.

According to an expert we consulted, based on the technical specifications, the SUV is likely a Škoda Kodiaq, and the upper mid-range vehicle is most likely a Škoda Superb.

Faster than the competition

The draft contract included in the procurement documents stipulates that the winning bidder must provide a replacement vehicle (“pre-delivery vehicle”) of the same category and performance as specified in the technical description, no more than five years old and with a maximum mileage of 150,000 km, until the delivery of the ordered vehicle(s). This replacement must be provided within 15 days of signing the contract, under the proposed monthly rental fee. While the category must match, the brand, model, and equipment of the replacement vehicle can differ from the newly ordered one.

The 15-day deadline clearly posed no issue for the Mészáros companies—just as it hasn’t in the past. We’ve previously reported that Mészáros M1 Ltd. frequently wins fleet tenders by committing to extremely short delivery times.

It is likely able to do this because the company already has exactly the number and type of specially equipped vehicles required by the tender – lucky coincidence – while other bidders have to procure these vehicles.

This means they can only offer much longer delivery times, and so,

Mészáros M1 has often won contracts even when its bid was more expensive than those of its competitors.

As a result of our articles, authorities have already begun investigating this phenomenon.

For the Senior Management

Answering our questions, the HUN-REN Center spokesperson stated that

“the vehicles will be used primarily—but not exclusively—by senior management for maintaining personal contact with research sites across the country as well as with key players in the research ecosystem.”

They went on to justify:

“Visits to research facilities help to gain a deeper understanding of infrastructural conditions, researchers’ working environments, and current scientific projects. The vehicles will also be used for training sessions, off-site professional workshops, and events organized by the HUN-REN Center, as well as for welcoming international guests arriving for conferences and meetings—supporting high-quality, professional hosting.”

We inquired why the vehicles required the extra features. HUN-REN justified this by saying:

“Equipping the vehicles with modern and comprehensive safety systems is particularly important, as it significantly reduces the risk of accidents and supports responsible, safety-conscious vehicle use.”

Not the First Mészáros Rodeo

This isn’t the first time HUN-REN has procured vehicles from Mészáros-owned companies. At the end of 2023, the Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN) issued a public procurement tender for the rental and fleet management of four vehicles over 48 months, divided into three lots. As part of this, HUN-REN sought to lease one mid-range passenger vehicle, two upper-mid-range passenger vehicles, and one minibus.

While the tender for the mid-range car was successful—and Mészáros’s company was awarded the contract to deliver the car for a net amount of 9.5 million forints—the procurement of the upper-mid-range vehicles could not be completed because “the available financial resources were insufficient to conclude the contract.”

In summary – although Mészáros’ company submitted a bid, HUN-REN could not afford to pay the requested price. As for the minibus, that part of the procurement fell through because no bids were submitted at all.

Written by Rita Szabó-Gödri, translated by Vanda Mayer. The Hungarian version of this story is here. Cover photo: Balázs Gulyás, President of the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network, after receiving the Széchenyi Prize from Tamás Sulyok, President of the Republic of Hungary, on 14 March 2025. From the right, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (j2) and László Kövér, Speaker of the National Assembly (j) (photo: MTI/Silárd Kosticsák)