DK Allege Orbán “Rejected Utility Support to Some Budapest Districts as Political Revenge”
- 4 Jan 2023 7:20 AM
- Hungary Matters
District mayors of opposition DK in Budapest will file a lawsuit alleging that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “rejected utility support to some districts as political revenge”, the party said.
Budapest group leader Sándor Szaniszló said in a statement that the government had rejected paying utility support to around a third of Budapest residents or 620,000 people, “purely because they voted for opposition-led local councils”.
Five districts led by DK mayors and the 9th district of Budapest are not getting anything from the support totalling at 8 billion forints (EUR 20m), partly paid from taxes collected from Budapest residents, he added.
DK mayors were originally planning to negotiate with the government commissioner in charge of distributing utility compensation but this has been “unlawfully denied them”, he said.
Gov't to Help Municipalities Pay Energy Bills
The government has decided to spend a total 44 billion forints (EUR 109.6m) helping local governments pay their energy bills in view of “energy costs increasing manifold due to the war [in Ukraine] and Brussels sanctions”, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Monday.
The funds are aimed at 138 municipalities in the provinces and 17 district governments in Budapest with more than 10,000 residents, after an earlier measure helping smaller communities.
The PM’s Office said beneficiaries of the programme were expected to make their operations more economical and prepare an assessment of their options.
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