VZCZCXRO5309
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHUP #0886 3481303
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141303Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4752
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BUDAPEST 000886 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CE JAMIE MOORE; PARIS FOR FAA TRICIA STACEY, 
COMMERCE FOR SILVIA SAVICH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCOR PGOV PREL EAIR EINV EFIN ETRD HU
SUBJECT: ARREST TAINTS BUDAPEST AIRPORT'S PREVIOUSLY CLEAN 
IMAGE 
 
REF: A. BUDAPEST 851 
     ¶B. BUDAPEST 872 
     ¶C. BUDAPEST 787 
 
¶1. (U) Hungarian authorities announced on December 5 the 
arrest of Budapest Airport's (BA) legal director Krisztina 
Renyi-Vamos, along with her former colleague Gyorgy Sziebert, 
who until this week served as legal director for Budapest 
transport company BKV.  Both individuals were charged with 
bribery and malpractice, and are alleged to have respectively 
funneled BA and BKV contracts to select law firms for 
kickbacks. 
 
¶2. (U) Econoff spoke by telephone with Mihaly Hardy, BA's 
director of corporate affairs.  Hardy did not offer any more 
details beyond what the media had already reported, only 
stating that BA will terminate Renyi-Vamos' employment and is 
fully cooperating with the investigation. 
 
¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: For Budapest Airport, a privately run 
company with aggressive expansion plans (Ref A), the 
specifics of this case may matter less than the damage it has 
already inflicted on its previously clean image.  With the 
future of the airport less than firm due to its dependence on 
the health of struggling Malev Airlines, BA can ill afford 
another reason for potential customers and investors to steer 
clear.  More broadly, this story only adds to a rapidly 
growing number of corruption and transparency scandals (Ref B 
and C) that threaten to make Hungary less attractive for 
foreign investment. 
LEVINE