Hungary Keeps Castles In State Hands
Old castles in state ownership will not be privatized if Parliament approves the government’s proposed amendment to the law on national heritage protection.
Despite earlier plans of the Cultural Heritage Protection Bureau (KÖH) to privatize 27 old castle buildings, the appendix of the law, which lists castles that are to remain in state ownership, will not be changed. The castles originally intended for privatization included such valued properties as the Cziráky castle in Lovasberény and Zichy castle in Soponya.
In recent months, the State Treasury Office (KVI) and the Finance Ministry proposed that several protected buildings, including the Császár Baths and the Várbazár at the foot of Castle Hill in Buda, to be taken off the list of 273 protected buildings intended to be kept in permanent state ownership. However, the Prime Minister’s Office, reportedly on the personal request of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, annulled the proposal, leaving the list intact.
“At least we won’t be accused of selling off state assets,” said Kálmán Varga, president of KÖH, commenting the government’s proposal. Varga added the expected hard sale of castles, which currently serve as social institutions, would not help KVI realize its HUF 33.2 billion revenue target for this year.
