HSC Aerojet Zrt. became the property of the Hungarian state, which received a loan from the state to purchase the Czech military aircraft manufacturer

The Magyar Közlöny revealed that Economy Minister Márton Nagy appointed N7 Holding Nemzeti Védelmi Ipari Innovációs Zrt. as the practitioner of state ownership rights at HSC Aerojet Zrt., Napi.hu wrote.

Since last year, this military holding has brought together state-owned defense industry companies, from vehicle and ammunition manufacturers, to military equipment repairers, to ZalaZone Ipari Park Zrt., which was founded to establish the military vehicle manufacturing and testing base in Zalaegerszeg.

Hungarian HSC Aerojet – through its subsidiary, Vodochody Holdings HU Kft. – bought the Czech military training and light combat aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody as a year ago. The company was indirectly – through Magyar Aerojet Befektetési Zrt. – 80 percent owned by Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, the husband of the government spokesman, and 20 percent by the Czech Omnipol as.

Minister of National Defense Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky

Photo: Dániel Németh/444

After Szalay-Bobrovniczky was appointed Minister of National Defense, he divested himself of his share in two steps in June, the new majority owner became Zsolt Hernádi, president and CEO of Mol Nyrt.

This spring, the Hungarian government placed an order with Aero Vodochody: 12 jet-powered L-39NG military training and reconnaissance aircraft will be purchased for the Hungarian Defense Forces, for as much as HUF 60-70 billion.

The newspaper writes that it does not yet appear in the company court data that HSC Aerojet became state-owned. The state-owned Magyar Fejlsztési Bank Zrt. is a major creditor of the company. Last year, HSC Aerojet received a EUR 150 million loan from the MFB to purchase the aircraft manufacturer, and the state undertook a cash guarantee for the loan. (The 2021 report of HSC Aerojet states that the final maturity date of the loan is August 15, 2036, and at the end of the year the company had long-term liabilities of at least 55 billion forints and the same amount of claims with its subsidiary, Vodochody Holdings against HU.)

In Hungarian: the state gave a loan to the government spokesman’s husband to buy it, then he became a minister, so he passed it on to someone else, from whom the state now bought it.