If everything goes according to plan, from 2010-2012, Hungary will begin to operate as a centre of casino tourism, which, as we shall see, is no coincidence, but rather a result of government policy created around the needs of the investors. There are presently two games parlours operating in Budapest and one each in Sopron, Győr and Kecskemét, and the next one, EuroVegas, due to open its gates (with an 86-metre, golden tower building) in Bezenye, will mobilize Austrian capital. The slot machines of the Dream Island investment in the area of the Hajógyári (shipyard) island in Óbuda also has to "turn a profit" within three years, since Mordechai Zisser, the project manager, who is the Israeli owner of Plaza Centers issued the following slogan to the world press: "Let's take Las Vegas to Hungary, to the Hajógyári island!" After this it is strange that there are also some in the games business who plan a new, "little Las Vegas" in Sukoró on the shore of Lake Velence, 45 kilometres from Budapest, which is expected to be completed by 2012.

In place of ecotourism

It is estimated that King City, announced with great fanfare as the biggest in Europe, will attract five million visitors per year- a figure that borders on the impossible, while the development costs will mirror those for the Dream Island at 400 billion forints (or, in other words, almost the cost of metro line 4.) The shore bordering the rowing course of the Lake Velence Water Sports School (VVSI) is regarded by the locals as being a natural treasure. Now it is a fisherman's paradise and thus in their view the natural direction to continue developments would be ecotourism. Yet, there are plans on the table for a covered skiing track and an experience park in the "king city" that would display Roman, Hun, Tartar and Viking culture, as well as a concert hall alongside the giant casino.

Although thus far the press have named Joav Blum, an Israeli-Hungarian dual citizen as the father of the King City project, according to the executive summary of the development, the leader of the project is actually Ronald S. Lauder. According to the document, Lauder is not only the main shareholder of Central European Media Enterprises Ltd., which operates Czech, Romanian and Ukrainian television channels and also operated Hungarian TV3, but also an art collector, a "generous philanthropist" and president of the Jewish World Congress. Similarly, societal roles ("eternal member" of the Likud Party of Israel) rather than business ones are linked to Joav Blum, who plays second fiddle to Lauder, while managerial routine is highlighted when Fred H. Langhammer and Itzhak Fisher, who also belong to the same circle of investors, are mentioned.

Tricky land barter

What proves that previous governments acted to please private investors in the case of the Dream Island and Sukoró? An amendment of the taxation law of 2007 ensured that Plaza Centers was able to operate its giant casino as a monopoly (in the capital), and later the state favoured the "islanders" by revising an act on key projects.

These amendments could also be favourable for King City, but it is primarily thanks to a line in the act of 2007 on state property that the Lauder-Blum duo can lord over their incomparable view in Sukoró. This statute makes it possible for the Hungarian National Asset Management Zrt. (MNV) to confer state-owned plots of land without competition to those who own an appropriate property that can be bartered. Joav Blum began to buy up orchards in the region of Albertirsa and Pilis and it was precisely this property - which MNV cited as necessary for the construction of the M4 some months later - that he bartered in order to get his hands on the plot of land for the Lake Velence casino. Although the businessman told our magazine that he had bought land in Albertirsa because he had originally planned that King City would be built there, his statement does not tally with the registry of title deeds data. According to the ownership documents pertaining to this, Blum had already become a new, non-local owner in Sukoró two years ago (he selected one of the hovels in the area as his official domicile), which indicates that he wanted to acquire more building plots here too.

The facts, therefore, indicate that from the very beginning the purpose of the barter deal was to obtain the 70 hectares as private property in Sukoró by underhand means. Any doubts that this was the case are quashed by the fact that even during Blum's negotiations with MNV in the summer of 2008, he purchased a plot in Pilis, which he immediately "threw into" the barter fund. Presumably László Keller wished to prevent this kind of activity when he submitted his amendment proposal on property law to reduce the opportunities for property barter without competition. However, parliament rejected the MSZP representative's initiative by a large majority.

Lobby for the Olympics?

In addition to the legality of the Albertirsa-Sukoró barter deal, the value proportion of the transaction is also rather dubious. While at the end of 2006 the legal predecessor of MNV sold some plots of land in Monor which were similar to Blum's plots in Albertirsa (and also in the path of the planned M4) for 19.8 forints per square metre, by July 2008 the state had calculated the purchase price of the businessman's property at 430.5 forints per square metre. In the end, Joav Blum paid a total of 296 million forints and 183 hectares of dirt cheap plots for the 70 hectares of casino land by the shore of Lake Velence (which earlier had been given an estimated value of 1.1 billion).

After this it was no wonder that the Clean Air Action Group immediately suspected property speculation behind the barter deal. "If we were not wet behind the ears and didn't hear on a daily basis (...) about plots of land stored up for a rainy day that don't bring in a penny of profit or create any work for the community," perhaps we would believe this mayor who supports King City, wrote the organisation in a newsletter. However, Sukoró's mayor, Gábor Molnár, has calmed concerns in regard to the rowing course since Blum and his associates "are pursuing wide-ranging lobbying activities to ensure that Hungary wins the right to host the Olympics in 2020." (Of course, in saying this, the mayor admitted that the investors are lobbying for their own plots to be artificially appreciated.)

In a nutshell: the Sukoró King City investment has for the time being not been successful in endearing itself to the locals (last week a yachtsman, Nándor Fa, protested on their behalf), nor to the eco-politicians (András Lányai, head of the Living Chain for Hungary, "would also like to protect the present appearance of the Pannon hill country"), nor the Fejér County General Assembly (the local government's parochialist of Lake Velence, László L. Simon, and the body's vice-president, István Balsay, are also in opposition to any giant projects). Indeed, for the time being, the public prosecutor's office is also on the side of those protesting, since it lodged a protest concerning the entry in the land registry office of the MNV-Blum barter, while the Gál and Associate Lawyer's Office is preparing to turn to the Constitutional Court on the commission of the county local government because of the loopholes in the property law referred to above.

In this atmosphere of uncertainty, Joav Blum has already made ambiguous statements to our magazine: "I would like to put an end to this gossip, according to which we would like to implement the project elsewhere; at the same time, it is true that a neighbouring country has approached us. However, as things are, we have no intention of changing the planned location from the Lake Velence region."

THAT'S HOW THE STAte helps the DEVELOPERS of a red light district

Dream Island (Hajógyári Island)

October 2003

Although in 2000 the Hajógyári Island Property Holding Office Ltd. (HSZV)'s 66.79-percent state-owned share was valued at seven billion forints, the privatisation organisation sold its share, which included 32 hectares of the island for a mere 4.6 million to Plaza Centers. The deputy-governor at the time of the State Privatisation and Property Holding Office (ÁPV Rt.) coordinating the sale was István Vásárhelyi, who was not only the head of SZDSZ's auditing committee, but had also earlier worked on the preparation of Plaza Centers' investment projects. Along with the tip of the island that was owned by HSZV, the remains of the Hadrianus palace, exclusively registered as state property, was also removed from state jurisdiction, which was qualified as illegal by the State Auditing Office.

April 2006

Although several departments of the Lord Mayor's Office recommended modest, recreational utilisation of the above-mentioned part of the Hajógyári island, the MSZP-SZDSZ majority of the Budapest City General Assembly gave the green light for the investment in the giant casino with the fantasy name Dream Island.

December 2007- May 2008

The Finance Ministry sneaked in the passage to the amendment of the act of 2007 on taxation which "in some planning-statistical regions" created an artificial monopoly on the first category (at least one hundred gaming tables and one thousand slot machines) casinos market. In the tender - which turned out to be a formality - announced for the Budapest-Pest County region the Dream Island project won the monopoly right to operate the giga casino (until 2032). The ministry therefore cemented Plaza Center in the domestic entertainments industry. In the meantime, the National Property Management Council decided that the state must pay one billion to buy back the Hadrianus palace which "accidentally" fell into foreign hands.

September 2008- February 2009

The government extended the effect of the act on high priority investments from the point of view of the national economy to investments of at least five billion forints implemented on the basis of concessionary contracts (for example the operation of casinos and the construction of adjoining leisure and accommodation complexes). At the beginning of the year, the Gyurcsány cabinet filled the legal opportunity with concrete information: it declared the Hajógyári casino city as a high priority project, thus allowing investors to obtain official permits more quickly.

King City (Lake Velence, SUKORÓ)

January-April 2007

The draft property act was prepared in the Finance Ministry which stated that "transferring the ownership right of property must be attempted via announcing a competition". However, even the opposition did not notice that the legal statute it accepted in September 2007 left in loopholes to eliminate competition in, for example, the barter of property under state ownership.

May-August 2007

Joav Blum began to buy up land in Albertirsa but the businessman's domicile written on the deeds of ownership of the property in question was Sukoró. In other words, Blum presumably knew in advance that an opportunity would arise to barter his plots in Albertirsa for the one by Lake Velence.

November 2007- August 2008

Joav Blum founded two companies: King City Management Ltd. and King City Property Ltd. Following this, the National Infrastructure Development Zrt. indicated to the Hungarian National Asset Management Zrt.  (MNV) that Blum's land would also be needed for the route earmarked for the M4 motorway.

Thus, MNV - within the land barter construction made possible by the property law - allowed the businessman to obtain a 70-hectare property in Sukoró (as an offset to the plots in Albertirsa) that up to then had been managed by the state. There is no doubt that corrupt management took place here, since one of the plots in Pilis that was added to those in Albertirsa for the barter only came under Blum's name in July 2008 - mere days before the barter contract was signed - in order for it to be then immediately passed on to the state. The Sukoró King City information booklet bears the date August 2008, i.e. the Israeli investors had to throw together a 1.1-billion development plan within the space of one or two months, which is impossible.

February 2009

The Ministry of Finance - in line with Blum and his associates' project schedule - announced a "tender" for the establishment and operation of a first category casino city in the Central Transdanubian region, thus King City could follow Dream Island in becoming a monopoly in its own "planning-statistical region".