October 17, 2023
In 2023, the risk of corruption increased for public contracts awarded to crony companies, while it decreased for those awarded to ordinary Hungarian companies with no political ties. This suggests that, following the EU’s measures to restore the rule of law in Hungary, the advantage of crony companies in the Hungarian public procurement market actually increased. They have won public contracts with a higher risk of corruption than before the measures were taken.
The corruption risk of tenders won by crony companies increased only in tenders financed by Hungarian taxpayers in the first seven months of 2023; in those funded by EU subsidies, the corruption risk was well below 0.1, which the EU considers acceptable. It has further decreased in 2023. Therefore, the Hungarian government’s response to the EU’s measures to restore the rule of law in Hungary can be characterized as reducing the corruption risk of EU-funded tenders won by crony companies below the EU target value. At the same time, we can see a significantly increasing risk of corruption in tenders won by these firms in the sub-market not controlled by the EU, i.e., public tenders financed by Hungarian taxpayers.
CRCB Statistical Flash Report 2023:2
List of contracts (contract lots) analyzed (CSV)
List of contracts (contract lots) won by companies owned by Gyula Balásy (DTA, CSV)
List of contracts (contract lots) won by companies owned by Lőrinc Mészáros (DTA, CSV)
List of contracts (contract lots) won by crony companies (DTA, CSV)
Suggested citation:
CRCB. (2023). The New Trends of Corruption Risk in Hungarian Public Procurement from January 1998 to July 2023. CRCB. https://www.crcb.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2023_crcb_statistical_flash_report_en_02_231015_02.pdf