A prominent Hungarian media executive whose companies earned massive government contracts during Viktor Orban’s administration has made a surprising decision to voluntarily transfer his business empire to the state following the recent change in government.
Gyula Balasy, who controls multiple major media firms that have created government advertising campaigns for more than ten years, announced his unexpected decision during a video interview Monday evening on the Kontroll news website.
This marks the first significant strategic shift by a major business figure with close ties to Orban’s administration, which lost power last month after governing for 16 years.
The incoming Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who leads the center-right Tisza party and will be sworn in May 9, has promised to examine state contracts, fight corruption and “reclaim stolen government assets” as part of his platform that delivered a decisive electoral victory.
“I am offering the group of companies that I have been building for 22 years, which currently perform the events, communications and media purchasing tasks for the state and government, … to the Hungarian state,” Balasy stated to Kontroll.
“I am not doing this because I have something to hide or because we have done something unlawful or wrong, but because I think the activities that we have performed for the state go beyond market communication activities and therefore … their place is inside the public sector budget.”
Balasy’s companies were responsible for creating Orban’s anti-Ukraine electoral messaging, which portrayed the April election as a decision between conflict and peace, along with numerous anti-immigration advertising efforts.
The media executive maintained that his companies secured government procurement deals that were “entirely transparent.” Balasy also revealed that several of his companies had their bank accounts frozen on Monday, though he did not identify which agency took this action.
Magyar responded briefly to Balasy’s interview on Facebook Monday, stating in reference to Orban’s supporters, “this system could collapse much faster than anyone would think.”
Mark Radnai, Tisza party’s vice chairman, commented: “This is the man who we have known as Fidesz’s billboard maker, and who in the past eight years has practically dominated the entire market of state communication.”
“Let’s not forget that the money earned was not generated by the market, it was paid by us, Hungarians… nothing will be forgotten.”
Financial records from the Opten business database show Balasy’s New Land Media company generated net revenue of 85 billion forints ($273 million) in 2024, climbing from 70 billion in 2020, while after-tax profits jumped to approximately 9 billion forints from 3 billion. His other primary company, Lounge Design, experienced net revenue growth to 26.3 billion forints from 10 billion during the same timeframe, with net profits increasing fourfold to 4.25 billion from 1.4 billion in 2020.
According to Transparency International, during just the 2019-2021 timeframe, Balasy’s enterprises Lounge Design, New Land Media and Media Dynamics secured a combined 295 billion forints in government contracts, primarily from the National Communications Office, which managed Orban’s campaigns and played a crucial role in previous electoral victories.
“The number of contracts won by Balasy’s companies has risen significantly, from zero to 150 per year in the Orban regime, between 2012 and 2025,” stated the Corruption Research Centre CRCB, a Hungarian research organization, in an April 10, 2026 report.
