Additionally, in 2005 he was nominated cluster CEO for the activities of Sanoma Magazines International (SMI) in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as board member of SMI. Under his leadership Sanoma Budapest has expanded its operations to include Internet services and cable TV operations.

In 1999 the President of Finland made György Szabó a Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland. He received the honour for his achievements in developing the economic relations between Finland and Hungary, and for increasing the awareness of Finland in Hungary. According to the Ambassador of Finland to Budapest, György Szabó is the first Hungarian businessman to be awarded with this order in the last two decades.

“With his own actions and through the products and publications managed by Sanoma Budapest he significantly contributed to the awareness of Finland in Hungarian society. He cooperated with other Finnish executives to enhance their business in Hungary and has successfully widened and deepened a transparent, humane, and efficient business culture and corporate responsibility in Hungary, representing values which are highly appreciated by the State of Finland”, stated the Ambassador at the award ceremony on 3 December 2009.

Between 2000 and 2005, György Szabó served as the President for the Hungarian publishers' association. He is an active member of the presidium of the Budapest 2020 Olympic Movement.

1. Where did you grow up and attend school?
“I was born and grew up in Debrecen but at the age of 18 I left for Moscow to study. I got my degree there as an electrical engineer.”

2. What are your fondest memories from childhood?
“The closeness of people: everyone: family members, teachers and pupils, colleagues at work were closer to each other than today.”

3. What would you miss most if you moved away from Hungary?
“Newspapers and magazines: would be difficult to obtain them abroad and if you get them, news would already be outdated…”

4. Friends are in Budapest for a weekend - what must they absolutely see and do?
“Find a friend who shows them the other side of Budapest: the underground, public transport, the life of an ‘average’ Budapest family, a local pub – everything which are not part of guide books.”

5. What is your favourite Hungarian food?
“Strudel stuffed with poppy-seed (still legal in Hungary :-)”

6. What is never missing from your kitchen?
“Ice cream for my little daughter”

7. What is your favourite place in Hungary?
“The good wellness hotels are really very special, and I feel very well in Debrecen, it is a good example of the Hungarian countryside cities.”

8. What career other than yours would you love to pursue?
“An alternative education. which is more spiritual and at the same time more practical than what we have today. It would develop dignity of pupils, their independence, would teach how to learn, how to be innovative, creative.”

9. What’s a job you would definitely never want?
“Anything with routine work, I hate monotony. To be more concrete: a merchant at a bazaar where you ‘must’ bargain: I dislike bargaining.”

10. Where did you spend your last vacation?
“We were with my family in the Loir valley but on our own, selecting our visit targets ourselves. It was so nice to see how organically people live with each other there.”

11. Where do you hope to spend your next one?
“We plan to visit Provence this summer but once I want to go to Iceland and Japan too. Life would be better the other way around: travelling all the time cut with 2-3 weeks of work…”

12. What was your favourite band, film, or hobby as a teen?
“Omega in Hungary, and Pink Floyd. I liked to play the violin, it was an instrument for an individual but also suitable to be part of an orchestra.”

13. What can’t you stand?
“Negligence and injustice. Negligence shows that you don’t care to change things around you. And there are so many injustices in the world which we have to cure…”

14. Red wine or white?
“Depends on the season of the year. Wintertime I prefer red wine but summertime the lighter white wines are better.”

15. Which achievement in your life are you most pleased about?
“The company I manage: Sanoma Media Budapest. I am part of this company for 19 years and achieved historical successes. Particularly that we have a fantastic management team.”

16. Book or movie?
“Book because it is less ready, gives more freedom to imagine how things happen.”

17. Morning person or night person?
“Morning person. Sometimes I wake up early in the morning and get asleep again after reading some newspapers or magazines.”

18. Which social issue do you feel most strongly about?
“Poverty because billions of people can have a life during which they never enjoy even basic satisfaction. And this happens in a world which is capable of providing enough material means for its inhabitants.”

19. Buda or Pest side?
“I live and work in Buda but like Pest too, these two parts make Budapest very special. None of the parts alone would create such a wonderful unity as Budapest.”

20. What would you say is your personal motto?
“I think it was said by Paul Valéry: „If you don’t have unreachable dreams, you will neither reach the reachable ones.” Because one always has to look beyond his believed or perceived boundaries: your real possibilities are always in territories which you can hardly imagine.”