The European Commission opened an in-depth investigation on Tuesday 29 October to determine whether various financing measures (€21 million) taken by Hungarian public entities in favour of Malév Ground Handling (‘Malév GH’) constitute State Aid and whether they comply with EU rules on aid to companies in difficulty.
According to the Commission, five measures taken in favour of Malév GH (loans, capital increases, debt to equity swaps) may constitute State Aid under EU rules. It fears that these measures have given the company “an unfair competitive advantage over other ground handling operators at Budapest airport, in breach of EU State Aid rules”.
Malév GH is a former subsidiary of Malév, the bankrupt Hungarian airline. The company is owned by the Hungarian State Asset Management Agency MNV Zrt. (‘MNV’). MNV, together with another state-owned company called Tiszavíz and the Hungarian Development Bank, Magyar Fejleszesti Bank, have taken a series of financing measures in favour of the company since 2012. In August 2017, Budport lodged a complaint with the Commission alleging that various capital injections, debt write-offs and loans granted to Malév constituted State Aid, which is not compatible with the applicable EU rules. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)