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Lajos Simicska (born 28 January 1960) is a former Hungarian business magnate, a former politician of Fidesz, and he was the head of APEH, Hungary's internal revenue service between 1998–1999, during the first government of Viktor Orbán.[1] He was the ninth richest person in Hungary in 2016 (dropped to 49th in 2020). He had extensive media interests, which included Magyar Nemzet, the number one daily conservative newspaper, the radio station Lánchíd Rádió, the weekly magazine Heti Válasz and the television network Hír TV. According to the Influence Barometer, in 2014 he was the 3rd most influential person in Hungary. He has a son Ádám Lajos Simicska who is also a businessman.
The public considered him one of Fidesz 's main allies and beneficiaries. He was a member of the István Bibó vocational college, which later served as the core of Fidesz. Afterwards he became the treasurer of Fidesz, and between 1998–1999 he was the president of APEH. As a businessman, he became the owner of Közgép and the CEO of Mahir, and the opposition regularly criticized the fact that his companies won significantly more state tenders during the rule of Fidesz.
The G-Day and the "Orbán-Simicska War"
editAt the beginning of 2015 he had made a public vulgar statement about Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (which became known as the G-Day for the vulgar word used). After the fallout, his companies did not win any more public tenders from the state and eventually his main company, Közgép was excluded from public tenders for 3 years.
Aftermath
editAs a consequence of the fallout with the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Simicska funded the Jobbik in the 2018 election which at the time was a far-right party.[2][3][4][5][6] After Viktor Orbán won a third consecutive parliamentary supermajority in the 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election, Simicska shut down the newspaper Magyar Nemzet which had been the top conservative newspaper, and had had a 80 year history in print. He also shut down Lánchíd Rádió. Shortly afterward, Simicska closed or sold all of his remaining holdings.[7][8]
References
edit- ^ "Lajos Simicska". 14 June 2014.
- ^ "Hungary's top news portal passed to entities close to PM Orban's adver". Reuters. 20 April 2017.
- ^ Day, Matthew (27 March 2015). "Viktor Orban denies being communist informer during days of one-party state in Hungary". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
- ^ http://www.thenewage.co.za/153710-1020-53-Feud_between_Hungarian_PM_oligarch_deepens_with_informant_charge [permanent dead link]
- ^ "Simicska: Orbán was communist informer".
- ^ ""Total Media War" - Simicska Hints Orbán Might Have Been "Reporting" - Hungary Today". 9 March 2015.
- ^ Walker, Shaun (12 August 2018). "Emboldened Viktor Orbán Cracks Down on Friend Turned Foe". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
- ^ "Orban Loyalists Take Control of Prominent Hungarian News Channel". Reuters. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
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