The following article under the title "Combino – the reason is obscure" was published on Monday by the Hungarian Népszava daily:
Lead: While the (Budapest) mayor is searching for the descendant of the CEO of BKV (Budapest Transport Company), it is still unclear if Botond Aba alone or BKV, which is led by him is responsible for the Combino case, which is said to be the reason for his entrainment.
The person of the CEO of BKV is only a segment of the cases to be solved regarding BKV, owned by the City of Budapest – declared the mayor, and added, that his trust has trembled in Botond Aba, who has led the company for more than 13 years. Demszky often stresses that he gained bad experiences about Aba in the “Combino crisis” during the summer, although, he has not initiated his entrainment yet. Earlier he stated that the situation of Botond Aba depends on the report about the circumstances of the investment in the Combino case.
There were professional investigations in process during the last months concerning the commission and operation of the 54-meter-long and 820 million HUF worth Siemens trams. The first investigation stated that several faults were committed during the building of the new overhead cable system on the main boulevard. However, the investigation did not mention that BKV had committed the faults mentioned, and did not state the responsibility of Botond Aba, either. Another investigation, that had been closed earlier but had never been publicized, investigated the failure, malfunction of the Combinos specifically.
The investment, meant to be a success story, and also stressed out in the re-election campaign of Demszky, caused a serious loss of prestige by autumn not only for Demszky, but for BKV and Siemens, as well. The public opinion – regardless of the circumstances and details – made Aba, BKV and Demszky responsible, while Siemens lost its prestige in the industry, resulting in financial losses, too.
