Magyar government launches investigation into 1 billion euro loan to North Macedonia from Hungarian Eximbank

The Hungarian government, headed by Péter Magyar, has decided to investigate suspicions of misuse of public funds in the case of the one billion euro loan that the state-owned Eximbank granted to North Macedonia.

The news was made known yesterday by Magyar himself, according to local press reports. He explained that the financing received by Skopje is part of four files related to Eximbank’s activity, for which the Ministry of Economy and Energy filed criminal complaints on Thursday.

“On Thursday, the Ministry of Economy and Energy filed four complaints of suspected fraud, with a total value of one thousand billion forints, in four separate cases. All are related to Eximbank’s operations,” Magyar stated.

He noted that the loan was offered under very favorable terms, including an interest rate of 3.25 percent.

According to his calculations, due to the interest rate differential, this loan will cost the Hungarian state treasury 90 billion forints, approximately 248 million euros.

“This constitutes a burden of 90 billion forints (about 248 million euros) on Hungary’s budget, while the Hungarian state took on a full guarantee for the loan, under Orban’s government,” Magyar stressed.

He added that the interest rate at which the state-owned Eximbank lent to Macedonia is significantly more favorable than the interest rates that Hungarian businesses and the country’s citizens pay for their loans.