Hungary's government spokesperson has revealed that is was the former government who landed the country in hot water surrounding the Metro 4 project scandal.
“The major cases of corruption indicated to Hungary by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) concern the previous, liberal and left-wing governments," Zoltán Kovács said during an interview on M1 television’s current affairs program.
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) had reviewed 400 billion HUF in concluded Metro 4 contracts, and inconsistencies were found in 272 billion HUF (880M EUR) worth of work. There were indications of five possible crimes at a total value of 166 billion HUF (540M EUR), and the EU is asking for the repayment of 59 billion HUF (192M EUR).
Kovács said that the number of cases suspected of involving corruption indicated by OLAF is not outstanding in European comparison, and in fact falls short of the European average.
“The Hungarian government has done everything possible to ensure that the policy of zero tolerance it declared with regard to corruption in 2010 achieves the best possible results," he stressed.
“In 2012, the government still had to struggle with the fact that only 70 percent of EU funding had been successfully distributed, but now practically all requests for tenders have already been published," Kovács also stated.