Hungary probes 4iG's Gidran deals; oil changes cost 3B forints

Hungarian Prime Minister Magyar Péter has ordered a review of all state contracts held by 4iG, the defense group controlled by Jászai Gellért, Hungary's ninth-richest man. The announcement on Monday hit 4iG shares and put the Gidrán armored vehicle program under fresh scrutiny, after years of missed production targets and a 3 billion forint bill for oil changes on idle vehicles.

Magyar said in a video message that four ministries would go through every state-linked contract of the 4iG group. "We will examine the defense industry property transfers and the related state money movements. The results will be made public," he said. He singled out a Defense Ministry contract signed one month before the parliamentary elections, worth more than 1,300 billion forints, first reported by hvg.hu.

4iG responded Tuesday with a statement saying it had acted in line with Hungarian and EU law and would hand over all necessary documents to investigators. The Hungarian Defence Forces signed two significant contracts with 4iG in the final months of the previous government.

The Gidrán program predates 4iG. The vehicles, named after a Hungarian horse breed, were first brought into the country by HT Division Zrt., a Hungarian-Turkish venture owned by Szíjj László, then Hungary's fifth-richest businessman. HT Division had a strong 2022, with 23 billion forints in revenue and 2.6 billion forints in profit. Business then dried up. The ministry decided in 2023 to move production to Hungary, and HT Division finished 2024 with 1.8 billion forints in revenue and a 750 million forint loss. Despite the loss, the company paid 6 million euros in dividends from retained earnings that year. Its most recent report shows 300 million forints in revenue and another 750 million loss. The report also records Szíjj's exit from ownership.