The licenses for five casinos in Hungary were given 35-year extensions without a bidding process, the news site Telex reported September 8. The licenses had been due to expire in 2024.
The casinos are part of LV Diamond, a company co-owned by Istvan Garancsi and Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky, who are considered allies of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The renewal was enabled by legislation adopted this year in which casinos were called “key national economic interest,” allowing a government minister to extend licenses without a bidding process if the concession contract is more than half passed.
Opposition parties want to find a way to keep these contracts from being renewed.
