Analysis

Company with ties to Hungarian PM wins high-speed railway tender

RM international, a company controlled by Viktor Orbán’s right-hand-man Lőrinc Mészáros, is part of a consortium that has won the 2.3 billion euros tender to upgrade the Hungarian section of the railway line between Budapest and Belgrade.

The Hungarian Ministry for Innovation and Technology said that a total of 32 companies showed interest for the project but only two of submitted applications, and the winners were chosen without taking into account any political issues. However, Mészáros is often in the spotlight of the Hungarian business environment, owning hundreds of companies and having stakes in strategic sectors such as the media, energy, and banking.

The reconstruction of the 152-kilometre line, upgraded to a high-speed link, it is the largest railway project ever undertaken in Hungary. The other companies part of the consortium are China Tiejiuju Engineering and Construction Ltd. and China Railway Electrification Engineering Group.