INVESTIGATION. 18 million euros were given by Viktor Orbán's government to 16 companies in Transylvania, many politically connected. The money goes through a foundation that was also referred to by a current advisor to the president Nicușor Dan
Among the beneficiaries of the money from Budapest are: a former UDMR local councillor, the husband of a UDMR county councillor, a businessman who sponsored the party's election campaigns, as well as associates of the former minister Tanczos Barna.
- The vehicle through which the money is transferred is the NGO Pro Economica. When he was Romania's ambassador in Budapest, Marius Lazurca, the current foreign policy adviser to President Nicușor Dan, publicly criticized the non-transparent way in which the Pro Economica foundation is used by the Orban government for financing in Romania.
In April 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary allocated 17,971,777 euros in the form of non-refundable budget support to 16 private companies in Romania. Many of them have ties to UDMR, the network goes all the way to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, shows a Snoop investigation carried out in partnership with 24.hu, one of the largest independent sites in Hungary.
Hungary's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, led for over a decade by Péter Szijjártó, a Fidesz member and confidant of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has not published details of the projects in which Hungarian taxpayers' money is invested.
In a response to a request from Snoop and 24.hu, the institution said that the funds are non-refundable and that all information is available on the website of the organization that manages the applications and monitors the implementation of the projects.
However, he did not mention which organization it was.
Shortly after I contacted the ministry, the list appeared on the website of Pro Economica, the foundation that frequently deals with Hungarian government investments in Transylvania.
In 2019, Marius Lazurca accused the same foundation
Being a Romanian private entity, the Pro Economica foundation does not fall under the Hungarian law on the transparency of public funds. But even in Romania, it is not obliged to have transparency regarding the spending of the funds allocated by Hungary.
About this foundation, one of the most important opposition newspapers in Hungary, Vocea Maghiară, wrote that through it Hungarian public funds worth millions of euros can be channeled to Transylvania, and the details remain hidden from the public.
In 2019, Marius Lazurca, the current foreign policy advisor to President Nicușor Dan, raised the issue of lack of transparency. At the time, Romania's ambassador to Budapest, Lazurca publicly accused Hungary of discrimination, by favoring ethnic Hungarians, and of violating EU regulations by running a financing program without a Romanian governmental agreement.
Led by Mónika Kozma, a former UDMR councillor
President and executive director of the Pro Economica Foundation is Mónika Kozma, former UDMR county councilor in Mureș. According to the last declaration of assets, from November 2024, Kozma receives a monthly salary of 16,143 lei (approximately 3,240 euros) from the foundation.
The President of Pro Economica did not respond to Snoop's requests.
The “Chinese Drop” Plan
Experts in international relations consulted by Snoop explained that the financing is, in reality, a soft power mechanism through which Viktor Orban increases his influence in Romania.
The grants support companies and strategic economic fields in Transylvania. Therefore, a part of the local Hungarian economy becomes dependent on funding from Budapest and loyal to this source. Implicitly, it helps the Hungarian Prime Minister promote his visions and agenda in the country.
Hungary's plan of influence in Romania is one of the constantly applied “Chinese drop”. This Hungarian strategy is amplified by a serious internal problem: the incompetence of the Romanian administration.
In Transylvania, the central administration fails to complete key investments or engage effectively. In the face of this administrative vacuum, Hungary's money and projects become much more visible and effective. Practically, Romania leaves free ground for the influence of Budapest.
Cluj real estate developer Adam Ambrus
The second largest amount from the Hungarian Government – 2.8 million euros – was directed to the company Premiot Amera Hotels SRL, which operates in the hotel industry.
Established in 2022, the company has as its majority shareholder (75%) the well-known real estate developer from Cluj Adam Ambrus, through another company – Amera Grup SRL.
In 2016, the name of Adam Ambrus was advanced in the corruption file in which Anna Horváth, the deputy mayor of Cluj at the time and former executive vice president of UDMR, was definitively sentenced, in 2019, to two years in prison with suspension for influence peddling.
Ambrus confirmed that he legally sponsored the UDMR Cluj campaign, but denied any favoritism from the City Hall.
Anna Horváth and the kindergarten in Cluj
Ambrus was heard by the DNA as a witness in the case of Anna Horváth. According to the statements and evidence in the file, published by Evenimentul Zilei, the businessman admitted that, before making the donations to UDMR, he had several meetings with civil servants from the town hall, including Horváth, whom he asked to urgently obtain an approval for the construction of a private kindergarten. For a year and a half he had been trying to get that approval.
After the elections, Horváth asked the mayor Emil Boc to sign the respective opinion so that the PUZ of the kindergarten would be put on the agenda of the City Council, according to a message intercepted by DNA. This happened.
Currently, Anna Horváth is part of the Board of Directors of the Pro Economica Foundation. But the names that appear on the road of money are many more. Continuing the investigation into Snoop.
