Hungary media mogul offers firms to state before political transition

Gyula Balasy, one of Hungary’s most influential media operators and a longtime architect of government campaigns, has offered to hand over his companies and some investments to the state just as the political ground under Viktor Orbán’s network begins to move.

Balasy made the surprise offer in a video interview on Kontroll, saying he had built the business group over 22 years and that the work it performs for the state goes beyond normal market activity. He argued that such work should belong in the public sector and denied that the move was linked to any illegal conduct. His firms have handled state events, communications and media-buying work for more than two decades, making them deeply embedded in the machinery of government messaging.

The timing is critical. Péter Magyar, the leader of the centre-right Tisza party, is set to take the oath of office as prime minister on May 9 after winning a landslide election that ended Orbán’s 16 years in power. Magyar has pledged to review state contracts, crack down on corruption and recover what he calls stolen state assets. In April, he said he hoped to take the oath on May 9 or 10, depending on the president’s decision on the inaugural parliamentary session.

Balasy’s offer lands squarely in that transition. It could be read as an attempt to preserve influence by rebranding a politically connected empire before a new government begins combing through contracts. It could also be a bid to lock in control over institutional relationships that have long tied media spending to state power. Or it may simply be a way to reposition assets ahead of a tougher regulatory and political climate. However it is framed, the move highlights how closely business and politics have overlapped under Orbán.

The scale of that overlap is large. Transparency International Hungary says Balasy-linked companies, including Lounge Design, New Land Media and Media Dynamics, won HUF 295 billion in public contracts in 2019-2021 alone, with more than 300 contracts from the National Communications Authority and the National Communications Office. Reuters-linked reporting also shows New Land Media’s net revenue rose to HUF 85 billion in 2024 from HUF 70 billion in 2020, while Lounge Design’s net revenue climbed to HUF 26.3 billion from HUF 10 billion over the same period.

The political reaction was immediate. Tisza deputy leader Márk Radnai called Balasy “Fidesz’s billboard maker” and said the money had been paid by Hungarians, not generated by the market. Magyar wrote on Facebook that “this system could collapse much faster than anyone would think.” A March 2025 procurement report, which showed Balasy-linked firms winning a HUF 24 billion framework agreement for tourism-promotion and communications work, underscored how central those companies remained to Hungary’s state communications machine.