Motion for revision no. IH/IV/17/2023

In its decision no. 29022/145-6/2023.bü., the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division of the National Bureau of Investigation of the Rapid Response and Special Police Service rejected the complaint filed for the suspicion of misappropriation of funds, active corruption, and agreement in restraint of competition in public procurement and concession procedures due to the lack of suspicion of a criminal act. Furthermore, it also rejected the complaint filed for the suspicion of abuse of authority, as the act is not a criminal act.

The Integrity Authority has submitted a motion for revision against the decision of the investigating authority that had rejected the complaint, and proposed that the decision of the investigating authority be abrogated and an investigation be ordered.

The article published on an online portal, which forms the basis for the complaint in the case, issued an analysis of the high number of tenders amongst national cases of public procurement starting in 2005 for which only one company had applied, the steady increase in the number of cases of public procurement affected by corruption risks since 2017, and the sharp increase in the number of cases of public procurement won by companies of interest to certain individuals since 2015. The article also cited the public procurement tenders of an unnamed municipality as an example, in which the same three companies, almost without exception, emerged as winners.

Based on the Authority’s motion for revision submitted on 5 May 2023, it can be concluded that the complaint may give rise to suspicions of other offences not mentioned in the investigating authority’s decision and the involvement of funds provided by the European Union. The investigating authority, however, did not carry out any actual investigative action in the case.

The Central District Court of Buda rejected the motion for revision put forward by the Authority.