April 12, 2026, 17:45

“Last year, 75% of single-bid government contracts went to companies associated with Mr. Orban’s allies, up from 39% in 2022, according to the Corruption Research Centre of Budapest (…).”

Unfortunately, this statement is incorrect. We did not provide such information to The Economist; this is likely due to a misunderstanding.

Based on the CRCB’s research findings, we sent the following information to The Economist via email on March 27, 2026:

“(…) the extent of political favoritism (the theft) has increased significantly: the share of single bid contracts won by Orbán’s affiliates has risen significantly from 39% (2022) or 44% (2023) to 65% (2024) and 71%  (2025). The latter is the highest value in the period 2011-2025.”

We later published these findings in our most recent report as well (see point 3.3. and Fig. 12). If we put the correct data into the original sentence, it will read as follows:

“Last year, 6.6% of single-bid government contracts went to companies associated with Mr. Orban’s allies, up from 3.2% in 2022, according to the Corruption Research Centre of Budapest (…).”

April 10, 2026

CRCB Statistical Flash Report 2026:2

List of contracts analyzed (CSV)

Suggested citation:

CRCB. (2026). Corruption Risk in Hungarian Public Procurement: Trends, Top Actors and State Organizations, 1999–2025. CRCB. https://www.crcb.eu/?p=4033

February 15, 2026

Boros, J., Hajdu, M., Magyari, P., Vida, M., & Tóth, I. J. (2026). Distribution of the EU Funds in Hungary: Challenges and Anomalies. CRCB. https://www.crcb.eu/?p=4013

Working Papers: 2026:1 (PDF)

February 5, 2026

CRCB Statistical Flash Report 2026:1

Analyzed contracts (CSV)

Analyzed contracts with EU, CR, TOP13, and NCV_MRD variables (CSV)

Suggested citation:

CRCB. (2026). The New Trends of Corruption Risk in Hungarian Public Procurement from January 1998 to September 2025. CRCB. https://www.crcb.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026_crcb_statistical_flash_report_en_01_050226_03.pdf

—

In the first version of its article describing our research, the Hungarian news portal, 444.hu, incorrectly stated that the CRCB’s flash report dealt with the risk of corruption in public procurement conducted by the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH). The online news portal has since corrected this error. We did not address this issue in the CRCB statistical flash report. However, it may be interesting to see how the corruption risk of public procurement conducted by the NMHH has changed since 2010.

The attached note (PDF) provides details.

December 18, 2025

Hajdu M., Tóth I. J., Boros J., Magyari P., &  Vida M. (2025, December 18). Distribution of the EU Funds in Hungary: Challenges and Anomalies [Conference Presentation]. The Hungarian Society of Economics Conference, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. http://www.crcb.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025_mke_181225_01.pdf

September 23, 2025

Hajdu M., Tóth I. J., Boros J., Magyari P., &  Vida M. (2024, November 26). ‘Let the Money Come in, Spend it on Time, and Everyone is Happy.’ The Path of EU Regional Development Funding in the Hungarian Institutional System) [Conference Presentation]. CEE-Loc Conference, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary. http://www.crcb.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/ceeloc_230925_01.pdf

November 26, 2024

Hajdu M., Tóth I. J., Boros J., Magyari P., &  Vida M. (2024, November 26). „Jöjjön a pénz, költsük el időben, és akkor mindenki elégedett.” Az uniós területfejlesztési támogatások útja a magyar intézményrendszerben. (‘Let the Money Come in, Spend it on Time, and Everyone is Happy.’ The Path of EU Regional Development Funding in the Hungarian Institutional System) [Conference Presentation]. Hungarian Sociological Association, Pécs, Hungary. https://www.crcb.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2024_mszt_261124_01.pdf

The research was supported by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

November 24, 2025

Toth, I. J., & Hajdu, M. (2025). Corruption Risk and EU Funding in Public Procurement Across EU Member States, 2007–2023.

Contract level dataset (GZ)
Country-level dataset (ZIP)
STATA do file (ZIP)

September 24, 2025

Tóth, I. J. (2025, September 24). Why is it Necessary for Hungary to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office?
Some Empirical Evidence and Considerations [Presentation]. European Parliament, PETI Public Hearing, Brussels, Belgium. https://www.crcb.eu/?p=3725

Presentation at PETI Public Hearing ‘How could Hungary’s accession to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office help to unlock EU funds for Hungary’, September 24, 2025, 14:30-16:00; Brussels, European Parliament.

The presentation: (PDF)
Handout (PDF)

Datasets used in the presentation:

EU, contract level data (CSV)
Hungary, contract level data (CSV)
List of contracts won by companies affiliated with Lőrinc Mészáros (childhood friend of Viktor Orbán) (CSV)
List of contracts won by companies affiliated with the TOP4 actors of Orban’s Kleptocracy (Lőrinc Mészáros, István Garancsi, István Tiborcz, Lajos Simicska) (CSV)

Suggested Citation:
Toth, I. J. (2025, September 24).  Why is it Necessary for Hungary to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office? Some Empirical Evidence and Considerations. [Presentation]. PETI Public Hearing, European Parliament, Brussels. http://www.crcb.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2025_ep_public_hearing_brussels_ppt_ijt_240925_02.pdf

July 1, 2025

Tóth, I. J. (2025). EU Taxpayers’ Contribution to Building the Orbán Kleptocracy. CRCB Research Notes, 2025:2, CRCB.

Research Notes: 2025:2 (PDF - revised version[26.03.2026])

2025. június 11.

Tóth, I. J. (2025). Statisztikai adatok, anomáliák, csalásfelderítés. Néhány gondolat Tátrai Annamária és Gábos András “Kutatói aggodalmak az EU-SILC magyarországi jövedelemadataival kapcsolatban” című tanulmányához. CRCB Research Notes, 2025:1, CRCB.

Research Notes: 2025:1 (PDF)

A Newcomb-Benford törvénnyel kapcsolatok publikációk listája 2025 május 20-ig,
https://www.benfordonline.net/ adatai alapján (CSV)

February 20, 2025

Orosz propaganda a magyar online sajtóban. Előadás a HUN-REN KRTK KTI
Varga Júlia tiszteletére rendezett konferenciáján. (PDF)

Suggested citation:

Tóth, I. J. (2025, February 20). Orosz propaganda a magyar online sajtóban. (Russian Propaganda in the Hungarian Online Press.) [Presentation] Presentation at the conference organized by HUN-REN KRTK KTI in honor of Júlia Varga. https://www.crcb.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025_varga_julia_70_presentation_200225.pdf