A former mayor of Budapest’s 5th district, Antal Rogan, has come in for criticism for what opposition politicians call suspicious property details. But in an interview with the daily Magyar Hirlap, Rogan insisted that it had been necessary to hand over the leasehold to private sector investment. He claimed that the municipality did not have the resources to make such investments, and that the result had been the creation of a “truly prestigious district”. He also brushed aside insinuations that the properties had been sold off too cheaply. We did not sell palaces but deeply degraded properties,” he said. Elsewhere in the interview he said the country would be ready to adopt the euro by 2020.
