Steven N.
Balázs J. Barts’s current role as head of Budapest Capital Asset Management Center Zrt. appears to be doubt following recent revelations, according to Budapest Deputy Mayor Ambrus Kiss.
A audio recording leaked on Tuesday appeared to be the voice of Balázs Barts discussing a deal to sell Budapest City Hall. However, Deputy Mayor Kiss told ATV’s Egyenes Beszéd that there was never a plan to sell City Hall, nor was Barts ever authorized to speak to anyone about it.
Mayor Gergely Karácsony has called on Barts to explain in writing with whom and on whose behalf he was negotiating regarding the possible sale of the City Hall building. The issue exploded in the media last week after revelations that appeared in news portal Index.
Although city leaders had asked Barts to assess some future uses of City Hall, including the sale of the complex as a possible option, the mayor’s office eventually rejected that as an option.
“We didn’t give him a mandate to negotiate a sale, and are still waiting for an answer as to why he thought he needed to meet with someone about it,” said Deputy Mayor Kiss to ATV.
Kiss says that they have begun to lose their trust in the head of the asset management company and that he may even be ousted from his current role, which he was appointed to at the end of 2014 by Karácsony’s Fidesz predecessor as mayor, István Tarlós.
[Telex]
