ONE Albania/ Viktor Orbán's 'Janissary' seeks refuge with Edi Rama

While Budapest controls 4iG's financing and contracts, Gellért Jászai seeks to expand from ONE Albania into the Albanian energy and defense industries.

Gellért Jászai did not come to Tirana just to talk about the state of ONE Albania. The leader and main owner of 4iG discussed new investment opportunities with Edi Rama, while holding other meetings on the defense industry and the energy sector. The visit took place precisely when 'NER', the privileged financial group during Viktor Orbán's government, is losing political support in Hungary.

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar calls 4iG “the secret mothership of the NER,” the economic system that Orbán built around his rule. He included Jászai among the oligarchs and “janissaries” who, he says, have profited from public wealth and state contracts. Magyar urged them to voluntarily return what does not belong to them and warned that the government would use the law to recover public money and assets.

The Hungarian government has ordered an audit of the financial and contractual relations between the state and 4iG. The group says it acted in accordance with the law and will cooperate. The audit has not yet produced any conclusions, so Magyar's accusations remain political. However, previously published documents show that the Hungarian state played a decisive role in the expansion of 4iG.

Direkt36 revealed that Eximbank and another state-owned structure invested 37 billion forints in a fund linked to Jászai. The money then went to 4iG structures that bought Hungarian defense industry companies. Viktor Orbán also appointed Jászai as ambassador extraordinary for the development of international business relations, without removing him from the company's management.

In Albania, 4iG acquired ONE Telecommunications and over 80 percent of Albtelecom. Their merger reduced the mobile market from three operators to two and gave the Hungarian group control over frequencies, fixed networks, fiber optics and strategic parts of the national infrastructure. According to 4iG itself, ONE Albania owns over half of the mobile market.

Now that Budapest is controlling the resources that fueled the rise of 4iG, Jászai is looking for other spaces in Albania. According to the Hungarian media outlet Privátbankár, he presented Rama with the possibilities for expanding cooperation. Jászai expressed his readiness for 4iG Space and Defence Technologies to take a strategic role in the development of the Albanian defence industry. He also discussed energy projects and some concrete areas of cooperation with government representatives.

The published sources do not prove that Rama has awarded contracts or funds to 4iG. They confirm the meetings, the sectors discussed, and the group's intention to expand its presence. Precisely for this reason, the government should publish the agenda, proposals, and every document that the parties have exchanged.

Is 4iG seeking contracts with the Ministry of Defense? Does it intend to enter state-owned military industry companies? What energy projects did Jászai discuss? Has it submitted requests for financing, state guarantees, strategic investor status or public-private partnerships?

The government should also clarify how 4iG financed the Albanian acquisitions. Did the group put ONE Albania's shares, networks or revenues as collateral for its debts? How much money does the operator transfer to the parent company and how much does it invest in maintaining the Albanian network?

These questions take on weight in the face of service disruptions and subscriber complaints. An operator that controls over half the market cannot be treated as a private business without public influence. Any financial, technical or property problem it has affects the communications of citizens, companies and state institutions.

AKEP should check the technical and financial condition of ONE Albania. The Competition Authority should review the consequences of the merger with Albtelecom. Security institutions should assess the dependence of the strategic network on a group that is facing extensive state control in Hungary.

Jászai built his empire under Orbán's roof. Now that Budapest is closing his coffers and opening his files, he appears alongside Rama and seeks to move from Albanian telephony to energy and the defense industry.

Albania cannot become a substitute for 4iG. Before Rama opens up other strategic sectors to Jászai, he must show what agreement he has made with him for ONE Albania and the Albanian network./ Pamphlet

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