€1 Billion Loan to North Macedonia Included in Hungarian Investigation into Eximbank

Hungarian authorities have launched criminal proceedings over suspected abuses at the state-owned Eximbank. The investigation is also examining the €1 billion loan to North Macedonia, about which Peter Magyar had previously raised concerns, Telegrafi Macedonia reports.

According to Reuters, citing a statement from Hungarian police, the investigation covers four cases linked to Eximbank. The allegations involve abuse of office and negligent management.

One of the matters under investigation is the €1 billion loan approved for North Macedonia. Following an audit of the bank, the Economy Ministry filed a complaint concerning the loan in July.

The loan was taken out by Hristijan Mickoski’s government during former Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s term in office through the Hungarian state-owned bank.

The investigation is the latest move by the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar to examine suspected corruption in the bank’s operations under the previous administration.

On Monday, investigators seized thousands of pages of internal documents from the Economy Ministry as part of the investigation.

“The documents were obtained during the internal investigation and contain additional information relevant to the investigation of the reported criminal offenses,” the police statement said.

Eximbank has not yet responded to requests for comment. Until June 2022, the bank was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after which it came under the supervision of the Economy Ministry.