Before the elections, Márta V. Naszályi recommended that if she received some financial support for her campaign, she would enter into a contract with the tenants of two pastry shops that the operator would not be able to "extricate" them from the properties in any way, but now the Párbeszéd - A Zöldek Pártja politician is using legal means this is what he is trying to achieve. The story of Miklós Szamos was shared by Index
According to Miklós Szamos, the owner of Ruszwurm Cukrászda Kft., historical confectioneries and restaurants in Budapest are typically closed. His company operates confectioneries such as Korona and Ruszwurm, among others. The latter is located in Budapest, in the Castle District, next to the Matthias Church, while the former is a few hundred meters from the Carmelite Monastery. According to the manager of the deservedly famous confectionary, it is a regular occurrence nowadays that historical owners are chased away, only for the lands to be given to those who have good relations with the local forces in Budapest.
"The Szamos family is quite large, it can be said to be world famous. Nevertheless, they wanted to give the Ruszwurm confectionary to someone else, because it is very valuable. Even Tamás Gábor Nagy, the former mayor of the Budavári Municipality, trusted that I would leave here with a simple notice of termination. The torture around my pastry shops started 12 years ago, without anyone looking at the background. They also looked at the legal status of the pastry shop in a superficial way, they believed that it was theirs and they could chase it away"
- said Miklós Szamos, according to whom the problems peaked during the reigning mayorship of Márta V. Naszályi. The owner of the confectionary said: the Párbeszéd politician asked him to support his campaign with money before the 2019 local government elections, in return he would have received protection, just as he says it usually happens in the underworld.
"Before the elections, he recommended that, if the financial support is granted, they would sign a contract with me so that it would not be possible to get out of here, even with a crime. The offer involved two confectioneries: Korona and Ruszwurm. The mayor also emphasized: if the support is not provided, it will not be protected. So he asked for defense money," Miklós Szamos said. He then highlighted:
if the campaign is supported, Márta V. Naszályi promised that a contract would be concluded that would only be able to buy the confectioneries for hundreds of millions.
"I told him that it is enough for me if the laws are followed and property rights are respected," said Miklós Szamos. According to the owner of the pastry shop, the mayor's proposal is a crime in itself, and although a specific amount was not announced during the bribery attempt, depending on the context, he would have asked for HUF 20-30 million.
Márta V. Naszályi won the election on October 13, 2019, after which she invited Miklós Szamos to her office half a year later: "He asked us to come to an agreement. To this I said: if the complaint is withdrawn, I am willing to pay three times the rent. We agreed and handed the case over to the lawyers, and in the end they wanted me to sign an amendment so that they could fire me at any time," explained Miklós Szamos. According to the current court ruling:
the Crown and Ruszwurm must be completely emptied.
"At the moment, we are at the point where everyone has reported everyone. The previous decision was made by the municipality, which I contested in court. Even though we went all the way to the Kúria, in the end they didn't accept my appeals - highlighted Szamos, who reminded us that they bought the usage rights forever 33 years ago and always paid the rent to the municipality. Currently, the areas are being implemented, but nothing is actually happening. - The local government does not talk to anyone, they continue to say that the confectionery is located on the premises illegally. According to them, we operate illegally."
The patisserie, protected by the state and protected as a historical monument, is not the property of the municipality. "The municipality has never owned anything here. According to the title deed, the land and the bricks are indeed theirs, but the entire confectionary, which consists of the equipment, tangible assets, operating licenses and property rights, is mine. This slice of Hungarian history belongs to my family, which is worth more than HUF 1 billion according to the company's value - Miklós Szamos summarized. - I offered to pay more rent, first twice, then three times, but I paid them in vain, but they were sent back. So that he can tell the press that I don't want to pay."
In the report dated last October, Miklós Szamos said: "V. Naszályi said that I should sign 4 points regarding the modification of the lease agreement, and then we can come to an agreement." These four points are as follows:
- There should be no conditions in the termination clause of the contract.
- There should be no ownership issues.
- The rent for the cellar should rise from HUF 160,000 to HUF 400,000.
- The rent for the confectionary should be HUF 1 million.
"There was basically no problem with this, I just didn't agree to the termination without reason," Miklós Szamos said. The prosecution papers also mention that Márta V. Naszályi 3-4 months before the municipal elections
he asked me if I would financially support his campaign, because if I did, he would put me in a position where it would not be possible to kick me out of the pastry shop
- and later: "the method would be to amend the contract by saying that if for any reason someone wants to take away the pastry shop and the use of the premises, then we can write any amount into the contract so that the municipality will pay it," reads the prosecutor's report.
The Index contacted the mayor, Márta V. Naszályi, and then the Budavári Municipality in writing, their answer can be read below without changes:
"The Budavári Municipality is not in settlement disputes with any of the several owners of Ruszwurm Kft. The Budapest Municipality had a legal dispute against Ruszwurm Kft. itself, which was settled by a final judgment by the courts, due to the fact that the lease contract for a total of 3 premises rented by the company from the municipality was terminated in 2015, but Ruszwurm Kft. did not return the business premises to the municipality for. Considering the fact that the company did not return the business premises to the Budavári Municipality based on final court rulings with an unfavorable outcome for it, and did not pay the usage fees awarded to the municipality in the amount of hundreds of millions of forints, so an enforcement procedure is underway to enforce them. Mayor Márta V. Naszályi neither requested nor received financial support from Mr. Szamos. This can also be checked on your public campaign account.”
The Ruszwurm confectionary is located in the Buda castle, in building No. 7 Szentáromság utca. Confectioner Ferenc Schwabl started his business here in 1827. Miraculously, the equipment survived the sieges of 1849 and 1944, despite significant building damage. In the first year of the regime change, in 1990, privatization accelerated in Hungary. The Ruszwurm confectionary was taken over by a foreign-owned company, and its fate became uncertain. At that time, the sons and grandsons of the namesake of the Szamos Marzipan brand, Mátyás Szamos, rented it, and in 1990 they bought the right to use the confectionary forever: it is still owned by Miklós Szamos and his daughters. It is clear that the pastry shop is an integral part of Hungarian history, which is in danger regardless of the suspicion of corruption.
Cover image: The Ruswurm confectionery
Photo: István Huszti/Index
