Fidesz MP’s hometown gets another multi billion forint investment

Despite mounting deficits in Hungary’s yearly state budget, no expenses are spared when it comes to developing Kisvárda, hometown of Fidesz MP Miklós Seszták. The latest major investment in the small town is a multifunctional sports facility complete with a thermal water heating system, for which the government is providing HUF 6.9 billion.

The home of Fidesz MP Miklós Seszták is a magical land, where funding falls from the skies and sporting facilities spring up from the earth. The town, population circa 17,000, has already seen the construction of an athletics center, a sports hotel, an outdoors film park, a stadium, a shooting range, a luxury tennis academy, a horse rehabilitation center, and a water slide park.

Despite these investments, the town has yet to really produce any world-class sporting heroes, horses or water sliders.

The latest major investment is a 6.9-billion-forint multifunctional hall. The facility has been under construction since 2021, and has, over time, swallowed more and more money.

Most recently, a geothermal heating system was added at a net cost of 300 million forints.

The Ministry of Construction and Transport (ÉKM) launched a public procurement process last December under the title “Design and construction of a multifunctional hall in Kisvárda – implementation of a geothermal and heat pump-based heating system”. The tender was conducted under Section 115 of the Public Procurement Act – it was an invitation-only process where only select companies could submit bids.

Five companies were invited: MB Invest Kft., Nyír-MG Trend Bau Építőipari és Szolgáltató Kft., Négyen 2002 Mérnöki Tanácsadó és Szolgáltató Kft., ALFÖLD KOMPLEX Kft., and KERMI-SZOLG Kft. According to recently uploaded documents in the Electronic Public Procurement System (EKR), three of them submitted bids.

KERMI-SZOLG offered a net price of 307,281,555 forints, ALFÖLD KOMPLEX bid 299,699,100 forints, and MB Invest Kft. submitted the lowest bid at 298,535,700 forints. As a result, the project remains just below the 300-million-forint threshold, and MB Invest Kft., as the lowest bidder, has been awarded the contract.

MB Invest Kft. is owned by the wife of the owner of Nyírépszer Kft., a company that wins nearly all construction tenders in Kisvárda. The company is tasked with upgrading the heating system by replacing traditional gas boilers with a more modern and energy-efficient system based on thermal water and heat pumps.

Time and Money

The additional costs have further inflated the price of the originally planned 3.2 billion forint multifunctional hall. The construction contract has already been modified multiple times, most recently in 2022 and 2024. Three years ago, the project’s cost rose to 4.8 billion forints, and last year, deadlines were extended, citing steel shortages caused by the Russian Ukrainian war.

The government has allocated a total of 6.9 billion forints for the investment.

The multifunctional hall was designed to meet the specifications required by the Hungarian (MKSZ), European (EHF), and International (IHF) Handball Federations for hosting international cup matches. At the same time, the facility will also be available for schools and recreational sports.

The project is being implemented in multiple phases. Once completed, the hall will have a total capacity of 4,000 spectators with a planned parking lot for several hundred vehicles next to the building. The contractor is Nyírépszer Hungária Építőipari, Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató Kft.

To see everything that has been built in Kisvárda, check out this video: