Negotiations between the Government and the Metropolitan Municipality can be closed with an agreement: the State will take over urban agglomeration public transport from the Metropolitan Municipality, and is also ready to take over the operation of the suburban railway lines. János Lázár, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office spoke about this at the press conference Governmentinfo 36 which he held jointly with Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács.
Mr Lázár told the press: the Prime Minister informed the Government that progressive negotiations have been conducted between the Metropolitan Municipality and the Government in a positive atmosphere in the past one month. The negotiations can be closed with an agreement, the Minister cited Mr Orbán’s words.
The Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office pointed out that the essence of the agreement is that the Government accepts the remarks of Metropolitan Mayor István Tarlós: namely, that Budapest is to finance what it is required to finance as part of its statutory obligation.
He added: the Prime Minister instructed the Ministers of National Development and National Economy to inform the cabinet meeting to be held next week regarding the cost of the public transport of urban agglomeration communities to and from the capital. The Government will take over this burden from the Metropolitan Municipality with the participation of the coach company Volán and the railway company MÁV, he said.
Mr Lázár said that they are also ready to take over the operation of the suburban railway lines „HÉV” and to implement the integration of HÉV and MÁV. This is a great opportunity for the State, he continued, as a railway development programme worth hundreds of billions of forints may be launched. He also indicated that the Government would like to support Budapest as a particular priority also in the future.
He drew attention to the fact that EU grants worth HUF 2,280 billion had been received for 6,600 Budapest projects between 2007 and 2013, which is „a very fair slice” of the total funding worth HUF 9,000 billion.
Mr Lázár further told the press that the Prime Minister proposed the allocation of funding worth HUF 350 billion to the Metropolitan Municipality for transport and infrastructure development projects a few months ago. He remarked that the Government had also assumed debts amounting to some HUF 270 billion from the Budapest municipality.
Regarding the legislation on the allocation of funding passed in December, the Minister said that it had diverted the local trade tax revenues of district municipalities in favour of the Metropolitan Municipality. The labelling of local trade tax revenues is a completely customary thing, he stressed.
Mr Lázár also said that the Government likewise does not resent the statements made in favour of the capital. Budapest needs no protection from the Government as the Government is the largest and most committed supporter and developer of Budapest, he said. In answer to a question, the Minister pointed out that the negotiations conducted with the Metropolitan Municipality are about the takeover of services.
In answer to another question, he said that the funds necessary for the operation of the Budapest transport company BKV can be guaranteed through the amended funding allocation law. “The Government is always ready to extend help to the capital”, Mr Lázár said.
Immigration can be controlled as long as fence is in place
If there was no fence, events similar to the incidents in Cologne could have taken place here as well, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office told the press in reference to the molestation cases in Germany. This year’s first Governmentinfo press conference was held after the morning cabinet meeting which was shorter than planned, Mr Lázár said, because Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has the flu.
The Minister informed the press: the Government will deal with the issue of illegal migration at every cabinet meeting to be held in the next few weeks and months because they expect the management of migration to be at least as grave a challenge this year as it was last year. The Government is determined to protect the borders of the country, he emphasised.
In answer to a question, he said that some 45,000 migrants await repatriation to Hungary, but Hungary will not take them back. The Minister also said that Hungary is continuously „returning” to Serbia the migrants who are presumed to have arrived from there; these number a few hundred.
Mr Lázár additionally stated: the Government is hoping to create a consensus for the amendment of the Fundamental Law, on the basis of which the threat of terrorism could be elevated to the status of a separate factual scenario in the Constitution, in which case the defence forces could assist the police.
Land auctions to continue
Land auctions will continue as of mid-February, Mr Lázár announced. He said: the Government instructed him and the minister responsible for agriculture to engage the National Land Management Organisation to compile a list of the arable landed areas which have not been sold and have not been offered for sale yet. The next round of auctions will continue until the end of March, at the same prices, and under the same legal conditions, the Minister said.
Mr Lázár explained, as one of the reasons for inviting further auctions, that the Civil Code has changed in the interim, and the possibility of organising public auctions must also be guaranteed in the case of the areas not yet offered for sale to date.
Mr Lázár further informed the press that 61 per cent of the 197,000 hectares of land offered for sale was sold in public auctions until the end of December, and some 120,500 hectares of land have new owners. He added: the total initial asking price was HUF 272 billion, while the proceeds of the sales amounted to HUF 171 billion.
The State obtained a total revenue of some HUF 6.1 billion from the sale of landed areas smaller than three hectares, he indicated. According to his information, ten thousand bids were received for these plots of arable land, and those who made bids purchased areas of the size of 1.4 hectares on average.
The Minister told the press: the Government also has information regarding the number of foreigners who purchased land at the auctions „due to the rule forced upon Hungary by the European Commission.” Some one dozen foreign nationals may acquire title to arable land, he added.
Mr Lázár further indicated that the Government continues to provide for the availability of preferential loans. He remarked that the Hungarian Development Bank has to date tied up loans worth HUF 120 billion from the facility.
In answer to a question, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office said that his father and one of his close relatives, Károly Gyapjas, too, purchased land at the auctions. He pointed out that both of them have been engaged in agricultural activities for some time and will take out loans for their purchases.
EU funding worth more than HUF 2,000 billion to be disbursed this year
At the press conference, Mr Lázár rendered an account of the government decision, based on which EU funding worth HUF 2,048 billion will have to be disbursed in Hungary this year. The relevant Decree further lays down that all the calls of the EU fiscal cycle between 2014-2020 must be published by 30 June 2017, and the total available sum must be disbursed by the beginning of 2019, at the latest.
The Minister remarked: if the allocation of HUF 2,048 billion is successfully disbursed this year, the responsible staff members will receive a twelve-month target bonus.
Family support and first home benefits have not been available on this scale since seventies
Mr Lázár informed the press that the Government will discuss in detail the report to be compiled by ministers regarding the perception of the family first home benefit at its meeting to be held next Wednesday. The ministries are receiving questions in the thousands, he said.
He took the view that no family support and first home benefits on this scale have been available since the seventies; the current benefits are only comparable with the OTP loans which were available at the time.
János Lázár’s visit to Brussels
Mr Lázár also rendered an account of his visit to Brussels on Tuesday, including his meeting with Elzbieta Bienkowska, Commissioner for Internal Market, which was, in his words, an “intense” meeting. He said: the competent EU commissioner took an expressly hostile stance to the idea that Hungary should come to agreements whether with Russia, or with China regarding local economic developments in the context of the enlargement of the Paks atomic power plant and the Budapest-Belgrade railway line.
The head of the Prime Minister’s Office also had talks with other European Commissioners. With Phil Hogan, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, he reviewed the HUF 1,200 billion allocation of the operational programme concerning rural development in Hungary, as part of which calls worth HUF 550 billion will be released in January.
In answer to a question, Mr Lázár said that the European Commission does not intend to disclose to the public the documents related to the EU engagement of the company Altus.
Extension of medical training to be considered
The Minister also told the press that they are unable to pay doctors more than what they are paid in Western-Europe. As an example, he mentioned that the physicians who terminated their employment at the Szent Imre Hospital had salaries of around a million forints.
In his view, there is extremely great demand in Western-Europe for the work of Hungarian physicians as medical training in Hungary is to the highest world standards. The Government should consider how many doctors it is able to train because if demand is this high, the solution may well lie in training more doctors, he said.
At the same time, he highlighted that this does not substitute for the necessary pay rises in health care which will have to be implemented subject to the capacity of the central budget.
At the press conference, the issue further emerged that the teaching staff of the Miskolc Herman Ottó Grammar School released an open letter last week in which they claimed that they perceive the entire education system to be in jeopardy.
Mr Lázár pointed out in this context that Zoltán Balog, Minister for Human Capacities is maintaining ongoing consultations with the stakeholders of public education, and „is preparing a red-tape reduction programme in the work of teachers”. At the same time, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office stressed that the institutions concerned must accept the framework created by the legislature.
He further drew attention to the fact that the level of knowledge among children is continuously declining, and “the Hungarian teaching community cannot hide its head in the sand as if it had nothing to do with this”.
The State is the employer of teachers in Hungary today, and the State performs the employer’s responsibilities through the Klebelsberg Institution Maintenance Centre, he said. He added: they are not planning to launch a debate regarding the organisational form in which the employer performs its duties because this is the Government’s responsibility.
In answer to a question regarding the reform of state administration, Mr Lázár confirmed that a number of offices will be phased out according to the plans of the Government. Proposals include that no new staff members will be recruited to replace those who retire, and that they will support state administration workers who voluntarily leave for the private sector. He remarked: there will, with all certainty, be „staff adjustments” at the tax authority as well.
Mr Lázár was also queried about the question of the restitution of works of arts. He said in reply: any works of art, in respect of which the State is unable to prove its ownership will be returned to their rightful owners or purchased, if possible.
At the press conference, Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács expressed his congratulations on the fact that the film Son of Saul has been nominated for an Oscar in the best foreign-language film category.