Business 8 April 2024, 3:17pm

Hungarian gov't to take Spar to court

Portfolio

Hungary's Economy Minister said the government will take legal action against Austrian retailer Spar, with the Justice Minister mandated to act, commercial broadcaster ATV reported on Monday.

Legal action will be taken, the Minister of Justice will act, Márton Nagy said in response to a question from ATV at a press conference today on whether the government will sue Spar. The minister said that the European Commission is only examining whether to launch an investigation into Spar's complaint about the special tax on retailers in Hungary.

There is no way around legal action,

said Nagy.

Asked whether it would be the Austrian parent company or Spar Hungary that would be legally challenged, the minister said "there have been offensive allegations on several levels".

Last month, the chief executive of the Austrian supermarket chain spoke about their complaint to the European Commission about the special retail tax in Hungary. Hans Reisch told Die Presse in an interview that the Hungarian government had proposed a peculiar solution to the situation: in exchange for trimming the tax the state wanted to buy a stake in the company.

Earlier this month, another major milestone in the dispute between Spar and the Hungarian government was reached, as the case was forwarded to the Central Investigating Attorney General's Office in the form of a report by Attorney General Péter Polt.

In his written question, Jobbik MP György László Lukács also quotes Reisch as saying that Spar Austria wants to protect its assets from the clutches of Viktor Orbán, who has already asked the commercial multinational to allow his relative to invest in the Hungarian subsidiary.

The politician asked Attorney General Péter Polt whether the investigating authority was investigating or had investigated Hans K. Reisch's statement in Lebensmittel Zeitung concerning the Prime Minister's request? Also, could there be any action that the investigating authorities should take in relation to Hans K. Reisch's statements? The Attorney General said that he had assessed the question as a report and had forwarded it to the Central Investigation Attorney General's Office for assessment.

The European Commission is investigating Hungary's tax on retailers tax after the Austrian government and Austrian retail chain Spar complained that it discriminates against foreign companies and violates EU law, as the tax rate has reached 4.5% of revenue, forcing companies to operate at a loss.

A FOOD COMPANY THAT DOES NOT SHOW RESPECT TO THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT STAY IN HUNGARY,

said János Lázár, Minister of Construction and Transport, at a Portfolio conference in March.

Now that the Austrian grocer Spar has behaved in this way, I have suggested to the government that we should stop tolerating lies and unfounded allegations from them and buy them, the whole shebang.

Imagine what would happen if a Hungarian food company dominated the Austrian market? Europe's industry is 40-50% dominated by German and French companies, we don't have to accept that. They should not be pushed out, but forced to behave fairly in the market, he added.

The retail chain must be made to "respect the people, the consumers, the government, the country where they make huge extra profits."