Economy: Momentum is broken: the government has pushed only twice the planned money beyond the border

Hungarians on the other side of the border spend their money here, and this fattens the coffers of the Hungarian state, the Hungarian state has a duty to return all money to these areas, argued two years ago in Dunaszerdahely Oszkár Világi, one of the leaders from Mol, considered the richest Hungarian on the other side of the border. It is not known whether the government is also driven by this idea, but it is a fact that for many years tens of billions have been flowing to develop the economy of cross-border areas, sometimes in the form of lines of credit or grants.

In comparison, something happened in 2019 that was unprecedented since 2013: the actual budget of the Bethlen Gábor Fund (BGA), which is primarily responsible for the management and distribution of cross-border state aid, fell compared to the previous year. From the public benefit report of Gábor Alapkezelő Zrt. Thanks to adjustments during the year, the fund’s budget earned only 70.5 billion, which is less than the amount not only in 2018 but also in 2017. Also, the rate of growth of loans as they go was less than in years Earlier, as the original plan was € 33 billion. In 2018, the size of the fund increased from 26 to 90 more during the year.

Most of the money went to Transylvania.

In 2018, the government literally reallocated money to BGA dozens of times. In the end, 60 billion went to “national policy” subsidies (these are the real cross-border subsidies), 2.4 billion to the operation of the fund manager, 216 million to the Casa de los Húngaros program and 7.6 thousand million to the Unlimited program. Program.

Out of a total of HUF 70.5 billion, HUF 70.3 billion was committed (i.e. this amount of money was committed through regulatory grants, tenders, individual decisions) and € 69.9 billion was actually paid.

As in previous years, the BGA did not distribute most of the money, precisely HUF 48 billion, not through tenders, but through “individual grants”. Individual grants are “grants that prioritize the special circumstances and funding needs of the target to be supported.” These

Requests for support are received by the government, after which the fund manager receives a request with a “professional proposal” to prepare a decision and complete the transaction.

Regarding the geographical distribution of the objectives of the allocated money:

• Transylvania: 24,193,573,100 HUF,
• Vojvodina: 6,737,270,000 HUF,
• Transcarpathia: 3,410,824,701 HUF,
• Highlands: HUF 6,733,901,906,
• Hungary: 2,901,706,200 HUF,
• Mura region: 1,414,800,000 HUF,
• Croatia: 1,086,266,000 HUF,
• Diaspora: 1,119,010,000 HUF.

Of course, the money also went to sports.

Behind the amounts are a total of 981 different supported applications, most of course the highest paid amount, from Transylvania: 286. For example, the Reformed Diocese of Transylvania received a 650 million HUF grant for the implementation of the Care Center Hungarian Reformed Relative in Ajton, who 23 can provide housing for young families with many children. The goal of the Mens Sana Foundation, which operates the Szeklerland Hockey Academy, is to prevent the mass emigration of athletes from Szeklerland and to help young people stay in their homeland by creating an academic system. To do this, it is setting up new ice rinks, among other things, it has set up a sports methodology center to provide professional support, and it wants to set up a university. In 2019, it received a total of HUF 620 million in investment support.

The School Foundation received a HUF 1.5 billion grant for the renovation of the Sonnenfeld Palace in Oradea. The objective of the investment is to create a Hungarian house that can house Hungarian civil and cultural institutions, thus strengthening the Hungarian community in Bihar. The Csibész Foundation will allocate 226 million HUF of the grant received in 2019 to the modernization of carpentry, sewing, car and truck repair workshops, as well as the expansion of equipment.

The Sapientia Foundation, the Sapientia University of Transylvania and the Sapientia-Partium Christian University Foundation received 3.5 billion HUF in support for the operation of the Sapientia EMTE / PKE. A II. The Ferenc Rákóczi Hungarian College of Transcarpathia received 2.5 billion HUF in support for the implementation of its investment and operational expenses in 2019. In recent years, the College has implemented important educational and investment developments, as a result of which education Vocational higher education has expanded with new degrees. The other main direction of the investment concept is the sports complex to be developed on the school’s territory, the landscaping of the central areas and the development of sports fields.

Foreign Relations also paid 34 billion

Otherwise, the government not only distributes money across the border through the BGA, but the budget is full of expenses for that purpose. These largely overlap with the various BGA programs, thus in several cases they are duplicates.

The final accounts of the 2019 central budget have not yet been made public, so it is not known how much has ultimately been earmarked for cross-border grants. The original budget (not yet amended) anticipated 88.9 billion, but it was certainly much more. After all, in these 89 billion, the Bethlen Gábor Fund is included with only 26.7 billion, while in the end it received 60 (this does not include the House of Hungarians and the Infinitely Program, along with them the final workshop became 70.5 billion).

The State Department just announced how many grants it paid across borders under grant contracts in 2019: $ 34 billion. The most important articles:

• 7.6 billion for the Prosperitati Foundation in Serbia to conduct small-scale tenders,
• 1.6 billion to support small-scale calls for proposals for the Pro Economica Foundation in Transylvania in Cluj-Napoca county,
• 16 billion to support the small calls for proposals of the Trans Economy Foundation Pro Economica in Szeklerland,
• 4.5 billion to finance the Pro Economica Foundation tenders in Transylvania to support high-value agricultural investments in Szeklerland.

Churches, nationalities and civilians are also in charge of the BGA.

The portfolio of Bethlen Gábor Alapkezelő Zrt. It has expanded in recent years with tasks that go well beyond fund management. During 2018 he received treatment for ecclesiastical and ethnic support (except for gypsy nationality). On January 1, 2019, he assumed the management of the National Cooperation Fund. These are also tens of billions, which are not included in the Gábor Bethlen Fund detailed above.

BGA Zrt. It handled 27.7 billion HUF in support of the church. This envelope, unlike cross-border aid, fell during the year, but not long ago, the initial allocation was 31 billion.

The budget for ethnic applications (excluding Roma) was HUF 1.4 billion, which managed to find a host down to the last penny and was paid almost in full. The decision was made to distribute 4.7 billion HUF with individual assistance, of which 4.6 billion HUF was paid at the end of the year. This means a total of HUF 6 billion in national support. Local ethnic self-governments received a total of HUF 940 million in operational support.

From the National Cooperation Fund, the state supports non-governmental organizations. The initial allocation of the fund in the central budget amounted to HUF 5.9 billion, which increased to HUF 9.6 billion during the year as a result of the amendments.

(Featured image / Viktor Orbán in Timisoara in 2019, source: Facebook / Viktor Orbán)