Coronavirus – Budapest mayor announces cost-cutting measures

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony on Friday announced a series of measures aimed at reducing the municipal council’s expenditures.

The measures include the merger of five city council-run companies and reducing the number of city council committees, Karacsony said on Facebook. Also, following the resignation of Dávid Dorosz, the deputy mayor for climate protection and development, the capital will from here on have only four deputy mayors, he said.

Municipal parks manager Fokert, the Budapest Funeral Institute, metropolitan chimney sweeping company FOKETUSZ, Budapest’s public works company FKF, district heating company Fotav and the Budapest City Administration Holding Company (BVH) will be merged into a single public works company, the mayor said. The company’s CEO will be Imre Martha effective January 1, 2021, he added.

Karácsony also said that

Katalin Walter will be appointed CEO of Budapest transport authority BKK effective Jan. 1.

Karácsony said Budapest and Hungary were dealing with both an epidemic and an economic slowdown that has resulted from it. “And unfortunately we’re also dealing with the increased burdens the government is putting on Budapest,” he said.

“We responsible city leaders have a duty to defend our city against this crisis,” the mayor said. Karácsony speculated that Hungary’s ruling Fidesz had a clear vision for what it wanted to happen in Budapest. “This script is simple,” he said.

“First, they’ll deprive the city of money and then force the leadership to announce austerity measures which they can then criticise.”

Karácsony said

the Budapest leadership would not “dance to Fidesz’s tune”.

“We’ll defend our city without passing austerity measures because austerity just leads to more austerity which deepens the crisis,” Karacsony said.

The mayor said the city leadership had decided to save money by cutting its own expenditures. “We’re not going to impose austerity measures but instead actually save money,” he said. “We’re not going to cut costs on the backs of the city’s workers but instead eliminate executive positions, oversight committees and disbursement offices.”