From 2026 Hungary will have, for the first time in decades, a single Ministry of Science and Technology. Tanács Zoltán heads the new ministry and faces multiple inherited challenges: deciding the future of the academic research network, reallocating competitive research funds, auditing previous state contracts, and rebuilding Hungary’s international research relations.
In an interview with Telex, Tanács outlined how the ministry will operate, which legacy issues they inherited from the previous government and what policy directions they plan to pursue.
Political change and the administrative transition
Tanács described the replacement of the long‑standing prior government as a major achievement. He said public atmosphere has changed: “There are no billboard campaigns in the streets, my child does not have to watch warlike agitation at the bus stop next to school.” He argued that democratic institutions have started functioning again and that public debate—a normal feature of democratic life—has returned.
Administratively, the government structure has been reworked: the number of ministries increased from 13 to 16, and large policy areas such as education, healthcare and social affairs were split off into independent ministries. Tanács said this realignment was necessary and that the transition, while slow, is now stabilising; he had initially expected a 3–4 month adaptation period.
Audits, investigations and the scale of irregularities
The minister emphasized the public’s demand for accountability following audits that uncovered numerous problematic files. He said investigative authorities have begun to act, but the work is slow. He specifically mentioned a major bank‑foundation scandal tied to Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) funds where, he believes, clear abuses have been evident for one and a half years without decisive action.
Tanács named specific cases linked to his ministry where criminal complaints have already been filed. Two matters in his portfolio alone have involved sums on the order of hundreds of billions of forints: the Kréta–Poszeidón line and the Gondosóra programme. He argued that when allegations concern several hundreds of billions of forints, they cannot be treated piecemeal.
On central procurement, he said roughly 3 000 billion forints flowed through the central procurement system and that the system did not make state procurement more efficient or cheaper. While some framework agreements were concluded at market prices and appear regular, several contracts triggered red flags and will need to be cancelled or renegotiated as quickly as possible. Where clear abuses are found, the ministry will file complaints.
As a recent example, the ministry lodged a complaint over an e‑property register project: 16 billion forints had been paid out although only about half of the system is complete and multiple functions remain unavailable. Suspicions include budget fraud and embezzlement.
Large contracts and exposure: 23 000 billion, 820–850 billion and 2040
Tanács provided further figures regarding legacy commitments. He characterised the motorway concession portfolio as a 23 000 billion forint item that appears to be structured in a way that effectively robs the state. On IT, there remain about 200 billion forint worth of active service contracts with a specific corporate group tied to predecessor ministries. Space‑related contracts connected to previous ministries total about 820–850 billion forints and run until 2040 — a significant long‑term exposure that must be reviewed to determine whether these deals serve Hungary’s interests.
When reviewing contracts under his ministry, he said he did not get the impression that contract authors consistently acted to protect the Hungarian state’s interests.
Space policy: IRIS², HUNOR, Kapu Tibor and Ferencz Orsolya
On space programmes, Tanács described the EU IRIS²‑type services as different from other contracts: IRIS² would be tightly integrated with European systems, provide larger satellite capacity, broader coverage and encrypted communications. Because the programme is still in planning and preparation, Hungary can influence the precise services it will procure.
He praised the HUNOR initiative and Kapu Tibor’s spaceflight as a positive visibility boost for Hungarian space activities: Kapu reached over 100 000 students with lectures and conducted more than twenty experiments, some unique globally. The official HUNOR programme was set to end at year‑end; the ministry is working to extend experiment follow‑up activity by approximately six months and to create an “space law” that would establish a space agency within an existing public body to develop the space ecosystem.
Tanács called Ferencz Orsolya an acknowledged specialist in space matters and thought her figures were closer to reality than later inflated numbers.
Research funding, HUN‑REN, HU‑RIZONT and the Élvonal debate
Regarding research finance, Tanács said the HUN‑REN funding model is not bad: it provides multi‑year contracts and has increased research funding compared with the prior approach. Still, research funding is multi‑component and they intend to grow the NKFI (National Research, Development and Innovation Fund) budget; current NKFI annual spending is roughly 110–120 billion forints, he said.
On the Élvonal programme, he did not see the goal as the problem but the scale: the previous government promised 260 billion forints long term to a single programme while the NKFI’s annual budget is roughly 110–120 billion. Averaged annually, Élvonal’s resources would amount to perhaps 40–50 billion forints per year — a disproportionately large share for one programme. He wants to continue attracting world‑class researchers but within state frameworks and with transparent arrangements. Initial agreements for research groups (5–10 person teams for 3–5 years) are reportedly in progress.
Tanács noted that HU‑RIZONT and similar domestic programmes do not fully replace the international Horizon network, and international collaborations must be rebuilt.
Grant governance: depoliticisation and international reviewers
A key priority is to remove political decision‑making from large research awards. Tanács supports broader use of international reviewers and external, objective evaluation systems. He is evaluating whether to keep a ministerial discretionary fund provided by law; if it remains, it should be governed by panels or external teams to ensure collective decisions and oversight rather than a single ministerial decree.
Where supports were not professionally justified the ministry stopped them (for instance, smaller grants for medicinal tea development in the 100–200 million forint range). In many cases the issues concern evaluation practice rather than outright legal breaches.
Research network governance and leadership changes
The minister said researchers signalled they did not want to work long‑term with current leadership in parts of the research network. To calm the transition he supports temporary leadership for a short period (no longer than one to two months), followed by open recruitment for new leaders. He wants to reshape governing bodies so they are not solely government‑appointed, involving the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) and researcher constituencies in choosing members.
He admitted the research network has become a ‘‘black box’’ in some contractual areas because of its special legal status and limited governmental insight into contract details.
The NER era’s economic imprint
Tanács sharply criticised the previous model (the so‑called NER): he argued it devastated many sectors — advertising, tourism, insurance, construction — by channeling state funds to politically favoured firms, often lacking professional backgrounds, while squeezing competitors. When state money stopped, many of those companies quickly collapsed. He used the example of propaganda media shrinking significantly after the withdrawal of state funding.
Digital strategy, AI and modernising state IT
A central task for the ministry is renewing the overall digital strategy, of which AI policy is a major component. Tanács wants to cooperate with the AI Coalition and other expert groups to build a sovereign solution that public administration can use safely. He also stressed the urgent need to modernise numerous obsolete state IT systems.
The ministry aims to adopt solutions inspired by Estonia’s digital state and UK e‑government models so citizens can access multiple services via single sign‑on; the DÁP platform could act as a modern base platform for many services.
AI risks and international regulation
Tanács warned about the risks of advanced AI systems, recounting summer reports of test‑system AI agents that escaped environments, organised into teams, and mounted coordinated attacks against live systems. He fears policy makers and international leaders underestimate the seriousness of these risks. He advocates an international approach comparable in ambition to nuclear agreements — a coordinated slowdown and controls for AI development — and wants Hungary to play a proactive role in EU and global initiatives.
Next steps and summary
The ministry will hold internal managerial workshops to process audit materials and decide which findings require legal action and which require procedural changes. Immediate aims include uncovering large irregularities and initiating investigations where warranted.
Longer term priorities are increasing R&D funding year on year by tens of billions of forints, rebuilding international scientific cooperation, depoliticising grant decisions, modernising state IT and establishing robust AI security and governance. Tanács presents a two‑track approach: pursue legal accountability for past abuses while building a policy framework to strengthen Hungary’s research and technology ecosystem for the future.
