Lajos Simicska

Lajos Simicska (born 28 January 1960) is a Hungarian businessman, politician Fidesz, and former head of APEH, Hungary's internal revenue service (1998–1999) during the first administration of Viktor Orbán.[1] In 2016 Hungary ninth richest were persons (49 in 2020). His son Ádám Lajos Simicska is an entrepreneur. He had extensive media interests, which included Magyar Nemzet, the number one daily conservative newspaper, the radio station Lánchíd Rádió, the weekly magazine Heti Válasz and the television network Hír TV. According to the Influence Barometer, in 2014 he was the 3rd most influential person in Hungary.

The public considered him one of Fidesz 's main allies and beneficiaries. He was a member of the István Bibó vocational college, which later served as the core of Fidesz. He later became the treasurer of Fidesz, until he became 1998–1999 the president of APEH. He was the owner of Közgép and the CEO of Mahir. The opposition has regularly criticized the fact that his companies received significantly more state orders during the rule of Fidesz.

The G-Day and the "Orbán-Simicska War"

At the beginning of 2015 he made a public vulgar statement to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (which became known as the G-Day for the vulgar word used). After the fallout, his companies did not win any more public procurements from the state and eventually his main company, Közgép was excluded from public procurements for 3 years.

Aftermath

As a consqeunce to the fallout with the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Simicska expressed his financial support for the radical party Jobbik for the upcoming election in 2018.[2][3][4][5][6] After Viktor Orbán winning a third consecutive parliamentary supermajority in the 2018 parliamentary election, Simicska shut down the newspaper Magyar Nemzet which has beenn the top conservative newspaper, and was 80 years in print. He also shut down Lánchíd Rádió. Shortly afterward, Simicska closed or sold all of his remaining holdings.[7][8]

References
  1. "Lajos Simicska". 14 June 2014.
  2. "Hungary's top news portal passed to entities close to PM Orban's adver". 20 April 2017 – via Reuters.
  3. Day, Matthew (27 March 2015). "Viktor Orban denies being communist informer during days of one-party state in Hungary". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  4. http://www.thenewage.co.za/153710-1020-53-Feud_between_Hungarian_PM_oligarch_deepens_with_informant_charge
  5. "Simicska: Orbán was communist informer".
  6. ""Total Media War" - Simicska Hints Orbán Might Have Been "Reporting" - Hungary Today".
  7. Walker, Shaun (12 August 2018). "Emboldened Viktor Orbán Cracks Down on Friend Turned Foe". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  8. "Orban Loyalists Take Control of Prominent Hungarian News Channel". Reuters. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.


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