BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary plans to sell non-strategic assets to partially finance its acquisition of Budapest airport, Economic Development Minister Marton Nagy told reporters on the sidelines of a business conference on Monday.
The financing package could also include budget funds and development bank money, he said, adding that the government expects talks to conclude by the end of the year. He did not say which assets the government might sell.
Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban took power in 2010, his government has boosted Hungarian ownership in the energy, banking, telecoms and media sectors.
It has been planning to buy the airport for years and in 2021 submitted a non-binding offer, but the process was later halted amid high inflation and volatility in global financial markets.
The government submitted a new formal bid for a majority stake in Budapest Airport last month, with talks underway with several airport operators, one of them in Qatar, to join as a minority partner.