The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) has launched an official investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Southern Railway project in Budapest. This decision was made by the GVH president to protect public interest and mitigate the risk of losing EU funding.

Previously, the GVH had not received any specific signals or information regarding this matter from domestic state or governmental organizations, nor from European Union institutions. The authority has been monitoring information related to the project and learned through the media that the Minister of Transport and Investment, Dávid Vitézy, intends to approach the GVH regarding the issue.

According to legal obligations, the project’s contracting authority must notify the GVH if it detects any behavior that violates competition rules during the tender process. The relevant law states that if the contracting authority observes or has reasonable grounds to suspect a clear violation of competition laws, it is required to report this to the GVH.

The GVH also emphasizes that it has the authority to conduct on-site inspections to uncover prohibited anti-competitive agreements, which can only be carried out with judicial approval. The effective detection of illegal agreements between companies and the collection of evidence can be significantly hindered if companies are alerted prematurely, as this may lead to the destruction of evidence.

This is why the GVH does not disclose information about specific investigations into prohibited collaborations or ongoing cartel cases, as proactive communication could jeopardize the effectiveness of these proceedings.

Currently, the GVH is conducting investigations into 22 different cartel cases, examining approximately 1,800 tenders. The number of companies involved in ongoing cartel proceedings exceeds 250. In 2025, the GVH closed three major cartel cases, imposing fines totaling 2.2 billion HUF, and initiated five new cases. So far in 2026, six new cartel investigations have been launched.