Márta V. Naszályi made it impossible, the 1st district can save Sissi's favorite confectionery

After a tug-of-war that lasted for almost a year, the Ruszwurm Confectionery and Korona Kávéház may finally come to an end. After the then mayor of the district, Márta V. Naszályi, wanted to close down the legendary confectioneries last year due to a personal conflict and financial dispute, the current management offered help to the restaurants.

The 1st district municipality would continue to operate the two confectioneries operated by Ruszwurm Kft. in Buda's Castle with its own company, mayor László Böröcz (Fidesz-KDNP) announced at a press conference in Budapest.

He said that if they see the possibility of meeting the material, personal and legal conditions necessary for this, then at the beginning of November, he will present a solution proposal to the representative body.

With the realization of the idea, they would be able to ensure that these confectioneries can continue to operate in the future, and that the workers do not have to go out into the streets

added the mayor.

He explained

Ruszwurm Kft. operates two confectioneries - Ruszwurm Cukrászád on Szentáromság tér and Korona Kávéház on Dísz tér - currently without a license - in municipal property.

In the second half of the 2010s, the local government unilaterally terminated the contract of the pastry shops, because the management of the local government at the time and the company could not agree on the rent. This was challenged by the company, and a court proceeding began, and then the lawsuit was suspended at the beginning of 2020, after the then mayor Márta V. Naszályi (Momentum-DK-MSZP-Párbeszéd-LMP-Jobbik-Várunk Egyesület) initiated this.

Then in 2023, the owner of Ruszwurm Kft., Miklós Szamos, appeared before the public and said that 

"in practice, they asked him for protection money" -

recalled László Böröcz, and then continued: it is difficult to verify the factual basis of this, but in the last four or five years it was clearly visible that while Márta V. Nassályi and co. there was a good relationship between its manager, until then the company received "very nice treatment" Then, when the relationship deteriorated, the former district leadership was interested in closing these confectioneries as quickly as possible, said the politician from the ruling party.

He recalled that, according to a curia decision, Ruszwurm Kft. owes the municipality about HUF 300 million, and the affected premises should also be vacated.

Based on the information provided by the executor, in the case of Ruszwurm Cukrászda, the eviction procedure will begin on Tuesday morning, while in the case of the other one, a week later, László Böröcz said.

He said that they have to look at two aspects in the matter: on the one hand, the municipality has the aforementioned 300 million demand, and on the other hand, it is a question of two long-ago confectioneries for which there is a public demand.

According to the mayor, it also appears that there is "virtually no chance" , but the municipality cannot give up on this.

László Böröcz stated: following the discussion on the matter last week, the owners of the confectionary were officially informed that the municipality would take over Ruszwurm Kft., and thus continue to operate the two confectioneries. However, they did not receive an answer to this until Monday, and the evacuation procedure will begin on Tuesday, so it seems that this proposed solution will not work, he said.

The mayor stated that the municipality can take one more step in order to save these confectioneries and their employees:

not the company, but the operation of the pastry shops would be taken over by the district.

However, several conditions must be met for this - pointed out László Böröcz, who listed among them the fact that the legal possibilities for operation must be created after the evacuation, as well as the ltd. 40-50 employees employed by the municipality should be transferred to the municipality in some form.

The municipality asks the workers of the two confectioneries to let them know if they want to continue their current work, he said.

If the district gets the name Ruszwurm, then the confectionary on Szentáromság tér could continue to operate under that name, if not, then it could continue to operate under a new name, he said.

László Böröcz said

it is economically worthwhile for the municipality to maintain the operation of the pastry shops, no investment would be necessary, because after the execution procedure the equipment can become the property of the municipality, as the company owes the district about HUF 300 million.

According to the mayor, the pastry shops could open as early as December.

Source: MTI / Hungarian Nation

Cover photo: Ruszwurm Confectionery Buda Castle Facebook