The work of Viktor Orb\u00e1n is helped by 17 advisors, but there is one among them who stands out not only with her record high wage of 920.000 forints a month (3000 euros, more than four times the median income in Hungary), but also due to the fact that she is the one who spends by far the most on representation. She is called Zsuzsa Heged\u0171s, who gives advice to the PM on issues connected to social cohesion and resolution of social conflicts, while also leading a foundation that fights against childhood hunger.<\/p>\n
Last year, Heged\u0171s spent 1.5 million forints (4900 euros) on restaurant bills and hosting guests in spite of the fact that we did not find any traces of events organised by her where she was responsible for paying the costs.<\/p>\n
We asked the Cabinet Office of the PM and Zsuzsa Heged\u0171s about what she had spent all this money on. The ministry did not respond to our questions, while Heged\u0171s only said that in September she is launching a campaign, and until then she does not give interviews to any media organisations.<\/p>\n
Heged\u0171s studied human sciences and sociology in Budapest, then left the country in 1976. She moved to France, where she received a PhD in sociology and carried out studies on reducing social segregation. She returned to Hungary in 2010 after Fidesz won the parliamentary elections, and she became a paid advisor of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n.<\/p>\n
Between 2010-14 Heged\u0171s was contracted by the Prime Minister\u2019s office and was paid gross 1 million forints (3280 euros) per month. After the 2014 elections, Orb\u00e1n nominated her as one of his official advisors, and Heged\u0171s became an employee of the state. Her new position entitled her to receive the monthly allowances of state ministers, which is 997.200 forints gross (3250 euros).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to the data we received from the government about the allowances of the advisors of the PM, Heged\u0171s is the best paid among them. Last year, her net wage was 708.012 forints (2320 euros), but this year she got a massive raise and now her net salary is 920.373 forints (3000 euros). This amount is more than four times higher than the average income in Hungary. The Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister refused to give any information about the reasons of the outstanding salary of Heged\u0171s.<\/p>\n
Since 2010, journalists asked Heged\u0171s several times about her. A few weeks ago she told Heti V\u00e1lasz that there was nothing special about her wage. \u201dWhat is the story here? I earn way less than I used to as a researcher in France before I came back to Hungary for public service. I get what I deserve according to the official salary scheme for public officers\u201d.<\/p>\n
On top of their monthly salary, the advisors of the PM can get other benefits from the state: the state pays for their offices, colleagues, while their work-related travel expenses and representation costs are also covered.<\/p>\n
Public spending on representation costs is regulated by several laws, and ministries are obliged to adapt detailed rules about the usage of such allowances. The Prime Minister\u2019s Office complies with the law and prepared its directive. The document lists the allowed representation expenses, including work-related restaurant bills and representation costs on press conferences, and also specifies the goods that can be covered: water, soda, coffee, tea, wine, champagne, cookies and crackers, fruits, flowers and napkins.<\/p>\n
However, the employer of Heged\u0171s is the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister which has not published yet its rules on representation costs. The Cabinet Office didn\u2019t even answer our questions about the availability of the directive although it spends much more on representation than other governmental bodies.<\/p>\n
Orb\u00e1n\u2019s advisors spent more than 4.1 million forints (13.500 euros) on representation since the Cabinet Office was established in October 2015. More than half of this amount, 2.5 million forints (8200 euros) was paid to Heged\u0171s, which means that she spent an average 136.000 forints (445 euros) a month on representation.<\/p>\n
The representation costs of Heged\u0171s are outstanding not only among the PM\u2019s advisors, but also among other government officials. Heged\u0171s spent 8 times as much as the Minister for the National Economy is allowed to spend a month.<\/p>\n
We wanted to know on what exactly Heged\u0171s spent all this money. The Cabinet Office didn\u2019t even respond to our questions nor provided us with bills or other documents that would justify the outstanding expenses of Heged\u0171s.<\/p>\n
Cover photo: B\u00e9la Nagy – Magyar Nemzet<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Zsuzsa Heged\u0171s is the advisor of the Hungarian PM on social cohesion.
\nShe recently got an outstanding pay-raise and she also spends the most
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