Investigation Ordered into 1-Billion-Euro Loan from Hungary to North Macedonia

The Hungarian government, under the leadership of Péter Magyar, has launched an investigation into the suspected misuse of public funds in the case of the one-billion-euro loan granted by the state-owned bank Eximbank to North Macedonia.

The announcement was made yesterday by Magyar himself, who disclosed that the loan taken by Skopje is one of four problematic cases linked to Eximbank, for which the Ministry of Economy and Energy has filed criminal complaints, reports Fokus.

“On Thursday, the Ministry of Economy and Energy filed four complaints for suspected fraud, involving a total amount of one trillion forints in four separate incidents. All are related to Eximbank’s operations,” Magyar said.

He pointed out that the financing was provided on extremely favorable terms, including an interest rate of 3.25 percent.

According to him, the interest rate differential will cost the Hungarian state budget 90 billion forints, which converts to about 248 million euros.

“This represents a burden of 90 billion forints on the Hungarian treasury, as the state assumed a full guarantee for the loan during Orban’s government,” Magyar stressed.

He added that the interest rate offered by Eximbank to North Macedonia is significantly lower than what Hungarian businesses and citizens pay for loans. /INA/