hungary case studies

Signed projects

Board approval is the final stage in the project approval process. After Board approval, the EBRD and the client sign the deal and it becomes legally binding. Signed project lists reflect year-end data.

Signed projects  (0.1Mb)

Case studies

Hungarian motorways expand with EBRD finance - 2008

Hungary’s M6-M60 motorway is the fourth motorway to be constructed with EBRD financing. In June 2008, the EBRD provided a €75 million loan to Mecsek Autópálya Koncesszios (MAK) for the expansion of the Hungarian motorway network through a private operator.

The MAK consortium, formed by Strabag, Bouygues Travaux Publics, Colas, John Laing Infrastructure and Intertoll Europe has been chosen by the Hungarian government as the preferred bidder for the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a 48-kilometre section of the M6 motorway between Szekszárd and Bóly and the 30.2-kilometre section of the M60 motorway between Bóly and Pécs.

The construction of the roads will improve transport links in Europe by expanding and improving the Trans European Network, of which the M6 is part. The road connects Budapest with the Croatian border and, once completed, will become an important traffic route between central Europe and the Western Balkans.
Total construction time for the two sections will be 28 months and the complete cost is estimated at €966 million.

Hungary has five main motorways: M1 from Budapest/Budaörs to Hegyeshalom (169 kilometres), M3 from Budapest to Nyíregyháza (216 kilometres), M5 from Budapest to Szeged and the Serbian border (157 kilometres), M6 between the “érdi tető” interchange on the M0 Budapest orbital motorway and the Dunaújváros M6-M8 junction (58 kilometres) and the M7 from Budapest to Balatonkeresztúr/Sormás (193 kilometres). Users pay for access through electronic vignette.

The M5 and the M6 have been developed on a public-private partnership basis, the others are owned and operated by the state. The EBRD has been involved in the financing of the M1/M15, M5 and M6 motorways.

Securing employment for people with disabilities in Hungary – Sustainability Report 2005

In a challenging project completed in September 2005, TurnAround Management programme (TAM) helped to strengthen a Hungarian company so that it could compete successfully in a difficult business environment.

Relabor was set up in 1989 by two doctors in the town of Esztergrom as a scheme to reintegrate people with disabilities into the community. It started with seven people cultivating mushrooms and other food products. By 2002 when TAM started working with the company, it had become an organisation of 800 employees nationwide, with 80 per cent of the workforce having some form of disability.

Relabor’s activities ranged from packaging small items, such as screws, nuts and bolts, to wood-working, assembling electrical and mechanical components, and gardening services for the cities of Esztergom and Dorog. TAM advisers identified that, despite government support in the form of wage subsidies, the company needed to become market-oriented rather than product oriented.

When the Hungarian government tripled minimum wages, Relabor was in danger of no longer being competitive. Working with Relabor’s management, the TAM team developed and introduced a five-year strategy that took account of competitive pressure. The TAM team’s main goal was to re-orient management focus towards customer demands. During the course of the programme, Relabor’s managers established a marketing division within the organisation. Turning to export markets was also a priority and the employment of a marketing manager familiar with international markets was an important step.

During the project, Relabor hired around 300 more people with disabilities. The company has contracts with international companies such as Ikea, Opel, Sanyo, Samsung and Haribo, and holds an ISO-9001 quality certification in woodworking, electronics, assembling, gardening and cleaning. With partners in Austria and Germany, turnover has increased from €3.8 million to €5.5 million.