More than a year ago, the Rahimkulov family and recently István Tiborcz tried to buy the Hungarian Spart – writes the VSquare newsletter citing business sources. Spar’s Austrian owners rejected both offers. Update: Tiborczék’s company wrote in the BDPST Group statement: Neither the company nor István Tiborcz plans to invest in Spar.
At the beginning of March, Spar filed a complaint with the European Commission regarding the special retail tax in Hungary. The head of the company’s Austrian parent company, Hans Reisch, later said: “They told us relatively openly that if the state took a stake in our company, the situation would be much easier.”
In the interview, Reisch was first asked about Hungary what they hope for from the EU complaint. “We have more than 600 stores in Hungary, and we are the second largest food retailer. However, external factors make it impossible for us to operate profitably in Hungary. On the one hand, there is the price ceiling imposed on basic foodstuffs and the special tax imposed on supermarket operators, which is 4.1 percent of net sales. This cost us around 120 million euros in total. It’s not economically viable,” Reisch said.
The government then initially stated that it was unfounded to put pressure on Spar. Later, however, János Lázár said: “Now that the Austrian spice connoisseur, Spar, has behaved in this way, I have suggested to the government that we no longer tolerate lying and baseless claims from them, and rather buy them by the skin.” He then added: “The company will pay the price for what it has done in the past few days.”
After that, Márton Nagy said he called the manager of Spar and warned him that every statement has consequences. Balázs Orbán, the prime minister’s political director, added that they are looking for the opportunity to seek legal redress.
This is where VSquare comes into the picture, citing an Austrian business source who writes: more than a year ago, representatives of the Russian-born Rahimkulov family living in Hungary approached the owners of Spar with a purchase offer, which they claim was also supported by the Hungarian state. (The Rahimkulov family was last in the news when it was revealed that one of their children was involved in the Corvinus exam scandal.)
According to another VSquare source in Hungary, István Tiborcz, Orbán’s son-in-law, was behind the latest purchase offer mentioned by Spar CEO Hans Reisch. The Rahimkulov family and István Tiborcz have already done business with each other, so according to VSquare, it is conceivable that they will also cooperate in the case of Spar.
Before writing the newsletter, VSquare contacted Viktor Orbán’s spokesperson and the Rahimkulov family, but they did not receive an answer to their questions. Our analytical article on the conflict between Spar and the government can be read here.
