Former Finance Hungarian Minister Oszkó Accused Of Benefiting From Malév’s Collapse

  • 10 Feb 2012 8:00 AM
Former Finance Hungarian Minister Oszkó Accused Of Benefiting From Malév’s Collapse
"Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary revealed to Hungarian media yesterday that former Finance Minster Péter Oszkó joined the board of rival low-cost airline WizzAir in April 2011, prompting Fidesz to accuse him of profiting from Malév’s demise.

“As the documents were publicly available, I did not feel the need to tell the media,” Oszkó told reporters yesterday.

Oszkó said there was no conflict of interest with his public duties, as his term in government ended after the election in spring 2010.

The question of complaining to the EU competition authority about illegal state aid to Malév was not discussed at any board meeting after he joined, Oszkó said.
WizzAir’s challenge led to the EU ordering the state to recover an estimated Ft 70-100 billion from Malév, hastening its demise.

WizzAir CEO József Váradi, who had previously headed Malév, sent a request to the European Commission in December 2010 to start an investigation of possible illegal state aid to Malév.

“As finance minister, I worked to save Malév with the nationalisation,” Oszkó told Magyar Hírlap.

O’Leary also handed out financial statements of its main rival, Wizz Air to show that Wizz Air is not Hungarian, as it is registered in Jersey.

“Oszkó has profited directly from the betrayal of Malév and kept his board membership a secret” Fidesz spokeswoman Gabriella Selmeczi declared."

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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