Intelligence links found behind four Russian companies operating in Hungary – Szabad Európa reports

After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the business activities of Russians have increased in Hungary. Most of the companies are looking to secure their own assets, but Szabad Európa has found several companies with links to intelligence services and political circles. According to the newspaper's tally, in March this year there were 674 companies in Hungary that were wholly or partly Russian-owned, with 97 of them founded after the war in Ukraine started.

"The biggest change is that most of the people coming here from Russia want to relocate to the European Union. Not many wanted to stay here before – they did buy property, but Hungary was not their primary location. But this has now changed: those who come here are 100 per cent looking to develop here. What they have in common is that they do not want to be associated with the current political situation in any way, they are anti-war as far as the Ukrainian-Russian conflict is concerned," Alexey Morozov, managing director of Starimpex Hungary Kft, a company involved with start-up businesses serving Russian clients told the paper.

A source in the start-up business also told the paper that it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage business finances from Russia, with some Russian banks not allowing international transfers at all, and others imposing limits of around €1,000, thus the need for a company in the EU is ever greater.

According to the source, a company called ITK System is developing IT encryptions with a licence from the Russian secret service and is owned by "a person who is obviously a secret service man". Szabad Európa also writes about the mysterious "research institute" IRIAS Hungary, which may be lobbying for involvement in the construction of Paks II (Hungary's second nuclear power plant-TN). According to the paper, the company called DGK Navigation Ltd is developing drones in Hungary and its owner is also active in Russia, with their company by the name of Gyronav, which develops and manufactures precision gyroscopes and navigation systems essential for drone operation.

The International Investment Bank, also known as the spy bank pulled out from Hungary in April, which we also reported on, as well as on the the bank's three executives who were put on the US sanctions list. The fact-finding piece by Telex's partner, Direkt36 on how the head of the Russian bank in Budapest tried to save his offshore billions before he was hit with sanctions, may be found here.