Regarding Budapest’s 2016 budget, Tarlós said current estimates projected an operating deficit of 12 billion forints (EUR 38m), of which the cost of operating the public transport service in the agglomeration made up 10 billion forints. Tarlós said a budget cannot be planned with any operating deficit and added that there is zero funding available for any extra tasks taken on voluntarily.

Regarding an earlier agreement between the Budapest Transport Centre (BKK) and the economy ministry, Tarlós said the ministry had not transferred “a single forint” to BKK in 2015 for agglomeration transport costs, and that BKK had sent a notice regarding this matter to the ministry. He said the ministry had 15 days to find a solution to the problem.

The leftist opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) said Tarlós’s press conference had been “useless” for Budapesters, as there was no information provided on the situation of public transport company BKV or the financing of community transport services in the agglomeration area. Tarlós did not say anything about how the 20-billion-forint hole in the budget would be plugged, Erzsébet Gy Németh, councillor for DK in the Budapest Assembly, said.

The opposition Együtt party said it is unacceptable that Tarlós “wants to stop public transport services to the agglomeration after Feb 17” and added that it is the mayor himself who should lead protest against financing problems.

The radical nationalist Jobbik party said the comments of the mayor and the prime minister on public transport funding in recent months have “raised more questions than answers “.

The two politicians have left Budapest residents and people who work in the capital facing uncertainty.

Jobbik said the mayor and the prime minister should be working to make sure that the hundreds of thousands of people living in and around Budapest can get to work and school comfortably and safely.

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MTI photo: Kovács Tamás