Government withdraws another source from Budapest



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Citing the epidemic, the cabinet would not pay the promised subsidy for the purchase of buses this year, Népszava learned. With this, they can chase the city to get loans.

The government would pay the promised HUF 3.2 billion grant for bus replacement to Budapest due to the costs of the coronavirus epidemic, said Balázs Fürjes, Secretary of State for Development at the Prime Minister’s Office in Budapest and the agglomeration of Budapest.

Last July, the government decided, based on a proposal from the Metropolitan Council for Public Development, to support the replacement of the public transport bus fleet in the capital. It provided HUF 3.2 billion for the program and asked the Minister running the Prime Minister’s Office to conclude a grant agreement with BKV Zrt. However, after the local elections that won the Christmas Gergely opposition, the matter was no longer so urgent.

This will not be the first municipal retreat to refer to the control of epidemics. The emergency is an excellent opportunity to further reduce the leeway for local representative bodies. Car tax abolition, business tax freeze through mid-September, and free parking for all apply equally to all settlements, but it is a real burden on capital and district municipalities as well as controlled cities by the opposition.

Opposition district municipalities will receive one decision after another on the withdrawal of development aid planned in the 2020 budget. Ferencváros fell from HUF 400 million and Józsefváros from HUF 1,125 billion. And now come the 3,200 million from the capital, writes Népszava.

If no new buses arrive in the fall, the capital’s transportation company won’t know what to market to take passengers through the busiest downtown area during the subway renovation.

According to Kata Tüttő, the deputy mayor responsible for managing the city, the loans also arose out of obligation. The other alternative would be to buy old and used buses.



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