Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has met with the group working to save troubled steelmaker Dunaferr, led by the region's representative, Lajos Mészáros of Fidesz.
PM Orbán said in a video on Facebook that the government was working on saving the plant in Dunaújváros, in central Hungary, “driven into the ground by its previous owners, company leadership and Brussels sanctions”. At Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, the government decided to cover the wages of Dunaferr workers for the next six months, PM Orbán said. The costs will come to some 16 billion forints (EUR 41.0m), he said. The government is now working to find a “dependable, reliable owner” that can take over the steelworks when the six-month period comes to an end, PM Orbán said. Dunaferr was placed under liquidation in December, after a plea for government support in September. Low steel prices paired with the rise in energy prices, supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine put the company in a situation with which it is “unable to cope alone”, Dunaferr said at the time.