Magyar vows radical shake-up of tobacco and casino concessions

Péter Magyar said that they had inherited a budget and social system “totally bled dry” by the Orbán government, but that the Tisza government has not forgotten its earlier commitment to a 25 percent pay rise for social workers, including child protection workers and staff who directly support education and upbringing (known as “noks” workers).

He announced that the government is planning a two-stage pay rise, with the first increase expected in mid-October and the second taking effect from 1 January 2027. The cabinet is to make a decision on this shortly.

He stressed that social workers can count on the Tisza government, which will provide them with every form of professional, moral, and financial support.

Government spokesperson Anita Köböl also reported that the government is providing additional budgetary resources to the central and regional bodies of the Family Insolvency Protection Service.

According to the spokesperson, one in ten Hungarian families has some form of payment arrears, as many thousands of families face serious difficulties every month in paying all their bills and loan instalments on time. She explained that temporary financial difficulties can quickly lead to lasting indebtedness and, in some cases, even enforcement proceedings.

She stated that the government will not leave these struggling families on their own, and has therefore decided to launch a new debt management and advisory service. This service will be provided from 20 November by the Family Bankruptcy Protection Service, she said.

Government spokesperson Anita Köböl explained that if someone is unable to pay their loan or other financial obligations, the creditor will refer them to the bankruptcy protection service, where specialists will help them review their situation and find the most suitable solutions for them.

According to the government spokesperson, the introduction of the service will allow 3,000–4,000 people facing financial difficulties to receive personalised, expert assistance each year — for example, on how to negotiate with their bank, when they can request rescheduling or a payment deferral, when it is worth turning to the financial arbitration board, and what further options are available to them for settling their debts.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar also reported that a new environmental super-authority is set to begin operations from 1 January 2027, according to plans.

He said the national-level, independent environmental authority will be established in several stages and will handle the most important regulatory tasks in the areas of environmental protection, nature conservation, climate, water and animal protection, water management, and forestry.

A key responsibility will also be the environmental licensing of battery manufacturing, recycling, and disposal.

He stated that the new authority will inspect industrial plants with a high environmental impact on a strictly professional basis and consistently, underlining that the rules will apply equally to everyone — anyone operating a small, medium, or large factory will be required to comply fully with Hungarian and European environmental regulations.

He indicated that the authority will also receive stronger tools, and that sanctions for environmental violations will be tightened so that they carry a deterrent effect even for large industrial companies. For the most serious environmental violations, the maximum fine that can be imposed will be raised to five billion forints.

He outlined that the “three strikes” principle, known from the Criminal Code, will also be introduced — meaning that if a large company violates environmental regulations for a third time within five years, a minimum fine will apply: at least half a percent of its annual net revenue, but no less than five million forints.

He cited the Samsung factory in Göd as an example, noting that its revenue exceeds one thousand billion forints, meaning the half-percent fine in its case would amount to five billion forints.

For serious waste-related violations, the five-hundred-million-forint fine cap will be abolished; in the future, the size of the penalty will be determined by the severity of the violation, the quantity of the waste, and its hazardousness.

The prime minister also said a comprehensive review and overhaul of the entire waste management system is necessary. He explained that the first audit of MOHU has been completed, and that even the initial results show “it will not be enough to tighten or replace a screw or two.”

Péter Magyar also announced a nationwide tree-planting and afforestation programme. He said the government will provide non-repayable grants worth “many tens of billions of forints” from this year through to 2030 for planting new forests and lining waterfront promenades with trees.

Trees suited to the current climate will be planted, with particular attention paid to increasing the number of trees in the smallest, medium-sized, and large settlements alike, as well as to the care of existing tree stock.

He indicated that there are an extremely large number of older, large shade-giving trees that are “suffering and dying,” and that local governments or the relevant authorities lack the resources to tend to and water them. They aim to save as many of these as possible.

Péter Magyar spoke of planting several million trees and creating several hundred hectares of forest and waterfront promenades at a cost of tens of billions of forints, setting the goal that the afforestation take place in every settlement as a complement to tree-planting programmes already under way by local governments and civil organisations, and in cooperation with local communities.

According to experts, tree species replacement is also necessary, and the government plans to spend several billion forints on suppressing invasive species, restructuring and tending to forests, and providing professional support to foresters, he indicated.

The government’s goal is for there to be significantly more forests and shade-providing trees by 2030.

The cabinet is proposing to abolish the concession-related tasks and powers of the Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities (SZTFH), government spokesperson Anita Köböl announced.

According to her statement, the authority’s veto right over the issuing of concession tenders and the conclusion, modification, and termination of contracts would be eliminated, as would the institution of the concession council.

The government’s plan is to permanently abolish the authority, she declared, recalling that the cabinet had already ordered a comprehensive review of casino and tobacco trade concessions in June.

The current decision also helps implement that review, Anita Köböl noted.

In connection with this, Prime Minister Péter Magyar stressed that the SZTFH was typically an institution that “did not make things cheaper, but more expensive, and did not serve the public interest, but private interest.” According to him, “the government is planning a radical transformation” in the area of tobacco and casino concessions, which the cabinet discussed in a first reading on Wednesday.

He added that they expect to be able to report on the details after next week’s cabinet meeting or the one following it.

“I believe I am not far from the truth,” he said, adding that in both cases the first step to consider would be the termination or cancellation of the concession contracts, but that there would also be other changes that could be described as radical.

In the case of the tobacco trade, Péter Magyar said it was important to strengthen public health so that these products could not be sold more freely than at present, and so that as much budget revenue as possible would be generated from their wholesale and retail trade, with any increase in budget revenue going directly and earmarked to healthcare. He said that the fee collected from the tobacco concession would be one of the sources for increasing spending on healthcare.

No decision has yet been made on the restructuring of the tobacco shop system, said Péter Magyar, adding that his position, representing the radical solution, is in favour of the full nationalisation of tobacco product sales so that not a single fillér would leave the state’s hands, but he is not certain that his view will prevail.

Péter Magyar recalled that a few weeks ago the European Union — with Hungary voting against — decided that men of conscription age fleeing the Russian-Ukrainian war cannot be granted refugee status.

According to the government’s decision on Wednesday, Hungary will continue to reserve the right to grant refugee status to men of military age who flee to its territory, the Prime Minister announced, adding that such refugees are arriving in increasing numbers, primarily due to consideration for ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia.

The Prime Minister noted that he had informed several EU leaders of Hungary’s position, and on Wednesday also told the President of the European Council that he considers the European Union’s decision unworthy. Hungary will act differently and will provide assistance to those in need, he said.

Responding to a question about Hungary’s support for Ukraine’s European Union accession, the Prime Minister stated that after many years, a political agreement had been reached with the neighbouring country regarding the restoration of the rights of the Hungarian minority living there. According to him, “we only asked for what every person deserves: to be able to use their own language in various areas in the country of their birth or where they live”; the agreement sets specific deadlines for the implementation of the package of measures. “We have not yet seen” any progress in this area, he stated.

Regarding the daily fine of one million euros imposed on Hungary for non-compliance with migration rules, the Prime Minister said he continues to regard the treatment of Hungary in this matter as unjust, noting that since the ruling, EU asylum regulations and the positions of member states have been continuously tightening.

The previous prime minister’s and government’s activities can be debated on many grounds, but Hungary’s position in the fight against illegal migration was fundamentally correct, he stated.

Péter Magyar said he had made it clear to European leaders that there could be no possibility whatsoever of Hungary relaxing its rules.

The solution that must be found, he continued, is one that is compatible with EU law, acceptable to the European Commission, and does not represent a loosening of controls at the Hungarian borders.

He added that it may be sufficient for “something” to enter into force for a single day in order to cancel the one-million-euro fine, after which a regulation similarly strict to the previous one, but operating slightly differently, would come into force the following day. He said the fine currently stands at around one billion euros, and the Hungarian government would like to recover this money from the EU’s next budget, along with the funds the country missed out on in 2024 and at the end of 2025 due to the Orbán government’s negligence. A solution must be in place by October or November, before the EU budget is adopted, he said.

Artificial intelligence was used for the translation of parts of the original Hungarian text.