Government shifts war-driven cost overruns of highway concession to taxpayers

According to Transport Minister Vitézy, the Hungarian state took on a substantial portion of the additional expenses incurred by the highway concession due to soaring building costs and higher interest rates linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The shift was formalised in a contract amendment signed in December 2023 by Rogán Antal, less than two years after the original agreement. A wartime emergency decree, which the government has frequently invoked since the conflict began, provided the legal basis for the amendment.

Vitézy contends that the original concession should have left these risks to the private operator, but the state intervened whenever the profitability of the Mészáros-Szíjj partnership was threatened. The government now plans to terminate the concession after negotiations with MKIF.