Alexander Ivanovich Ageev was quite active in Hungary for a time: one prominent meeting would follow another. His main partners included János Süli, the minister without portfolio responsible for the expansion of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, and lawyer István Szabó, who spearheaded the ‘reconquista’ of the Pécs Waterworks from a French investor. Moreover, he met with several prominent university figures. The Russian professor is the general director of IRIAS, a Moscow-based scientific research institute that established a Hungarian trade representation back in September 2022, following in the footsteps of the International Investment Bank, often referred to as the “Russian spy bank”.
The Hungarian representation of IRIAS is located in the capital’s downtown District V, not far from Hotel Marriott and the overall luxury of the Danube Corso. The office is registered in a first-floor flat within a larger apartment building, right above – coincidence? – a long-running Russian deli store. No matter how often Prof. Ageev would visit Hungary, not much information can be found regarding his negotiations, and neither he, nor his or the IRIAS’ known Hungarian partners have proven to be talkative. Preferring a first-hand narrative of the intentions behind the establishment of the trade representation, as well as of the range of their activities, plans and agreements with the Hungarian government, we tried reaching out to Prof. Ageev through e-mail – to no avail.
Neither have we received any replies from either the private person registered at the apartment serving as the office’s address, or from Debrecen-based Bernadett Deák, the managing director of IRIAS Hungary. On the other hand, we did manage to reach attorney Lajos Kálmán Hörcsik (nephew of FIDESZ MP Richárd Hörcsik), the appointed process agent of both Ageev and IRIAS Hungary. After checking with his clients at our request, Mr. Hörcsik unfortunately wasn’t able to provide any information due to his obligation of confidentiality. However, he suggested that we would continue our research with the Ministry of Justice’s official business register (Cégközlöny, or “Company Gazette”).
Public information about the company reveals that the organisation registers “otherwise non-classified miscellaneous communal and social activity” as its main scope of operation, while also listing a multitude of other activities, ranging from higher and non-higher education, audio-visual production, publishing and news reporting to scientific and technological R&D, including even the serving of alcoholic drinks and handling of hazardous waste. In short, the list of activities offers little information as to what the trade representation actually does. Shortly after the initial registration, the list was complemented with the wholesale of fuels and other materials – probably not a very helpful piece of evidence, either.
As the next step, we inquired at Péter Szijjártó’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, seeking answers to the following questions:
- What is the Moscow-based organisation doing in Budapest?
- What does “non-classified miscellaneous social activity” stand for in this case?
- Has the Hungarian government given explicit permission to the establishment of the trade representation?
- Are there any agreements between IRIAS and the Hungarian government?
- Who is financing the IRIAS’ Hungarian operations and how, with regards to the fact that EU sanctions have rendered monetary transactions from Russian banks to the EU virtually impossible?
The Ministry has not replied until the publishing of this article, so we would continue our research by scouring the documents provided to the Registry Court as attachments. These reveal the revival of an organisation reaching back to Comecon times, which in many way resembles the IBB-story – although the former began its activities in Hungary only long after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
The International Research Institute for Advanced Systems (IRIAS) was founded in Berlin in 1976, by several then-Eastern Bloc nations: the Hungarian People’s Republic, the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Cuba, the German Democratic Republic, the Mongolian People’s Republic, the Polish People’s Republic and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. On the part of Hungary, the founding agreement was most probably signed by then-Deputy Prime Minister Gyula Szekér, one of the pioneers of the modernisation of Hungary’s chemical industry. IRIAS’ original aim was the “realisation of comprehensive research and development projects within state-led socialist production and the organisation of its various branches, regarding both theory and practice.”
Based on the text, the IRIAS was an organisation spanning the entire Comecon, bringing together the professional elites of production and development within the Bloc,
While the distant past of the organisation is certainly interesting, its present and intentions for the future are much more relevant. Regarding these, it could be important to mention that based on a certificate issued by Moscow’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a translation of which had been sent to the Registry Court,
This, by the way, means the same set of privileges provided to the representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The certificate from Moscow refers to the 1980 Budapest Agreement, which would guarantee the following to the IRIAS’ representation:
- Inviolability for the IRIAS’ premises and documents, including official letters irrespective of their location
- Inviolability for the IRIAS’ wealth and assets against all sorts of administrative and legal procedures
- Exemption for the IRIAS’ premises from all national and local taxes, fees and duties, as well as an exemption from restrictions on export and import
Amongst others, it was these privileges the opponents and critics of the IIB found the most concerning, as they could allegedly facilitate espionage in certain cases.
Regarding the organisation’s activity and intentions, the general information available about Ageev, as well as the IRIAS website can provide some potential pointers. Based on the latter, the research organisation is indeed active, and five countries are still listed as member states. Besides Russia and Hungary, the list also names Bulgaria, Cuba and Mongolia – the same team as the one from the final episodes of the IIB-story before the bank’s withdrawal from Hungary. As for Ageev, the professor has a diverse profile: he fulfils various academic responsibilities in three Russian universities, and his publications cover a wide range of topics as well; but future research and strategic management seem to be his main areas of expertise. Concerning the establishment of international strategic relations, the IRIAS website features several references to Hungary, typically from around 2017-2018.
According to one news post, on the 13th of February 2018, Iván Szabó, the director of the Centre for Nuclear and Water Law – a member of IRIAS’ organisational network – participated in negotiations with minister without portfolio János Süli, who was at the time responsible for the expansion of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant. The agenda of the meeting mainly included topics of science and education, as well as prospects and opportunities regarding the development of innovative nuclear infrastructure. If nothing else, this information reveals that
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA, “Magyar Tudományos Akadémia”) provided the setting for a meeting on the 11th of June 2018, which saw the participation of Ageev, Iván Szabó and Professor Antal Tibor Asbóth, the permanent representative of Hungary in IRIAS’ Council. The trio discussed the scientific achievements of 2017, as well as their plans concerning the time period of 2018-2020.
We inquired at MTA about how the meeting had come to take place within the citadel of Hungarian science and academia, and if there was any formal association or cooperation between MTA and IRIAS. “Since the beginning of the 90’s, the Academia has no connections to IRIAS whatsoever” – replied MTA’s Communications Department. MTA primarily hosts scientific or science-related events, but its halls can be rented for other purposes in line with the Academia’s main mission and purpose. Rental requests are assessed individually. However, this was not the case with the IRIAS meeting: the organisation neither requested, nor received any permission to host an event, be it free of charge or for payment. Based on the photo featured on the website, a 2018 meeting could indeed have taken place within the premises of the Academia, probably in the restaurant or the café, but this requires no rental agreement – we were told by MTA.
Ageev would meet János Süli on the 14th of June the same year, in the company of Iván Szabó. The former minister has not reacted to our inquiries regarding the subject and extent of their cooperation. Nor have we managed to uncover the identity of the mentioned Professor Asbóth – by this name, we could only find an economist born in 1928.
We have been more fortunate regarding Iván Szabó, as he proved to be quite helpful in answering our queries. Szabó and his office specialise in legal cases concerning public waterworks. Over the course of his career, he has worked for the municipality of Pécs, he spearheaded the memorable re-acquisition of the Pécs waterworks, and he would also play a major role in the lightning-fast leadership changes within the Hungarian Development Bank and its associated companies following the second Orbán administration’s rise to power. In 2010 he became a member in the National Election Commission, while in 2011 he received the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit for his involvement in the development of public waterworks services.
While Szabó would not deny his former association with IRIAS and Ageev, he told us that “all his connections to the organisation were severed in 2018”. Ageev would be eager to move things forward, but then the “whole thing ground to a halt and died off” – he would tell our reporters. To his knowledge, Ageev teaches at the Moscow Nuclear University, and he used to work on projects concerning the Paks nuclear expansion. In Pécs they would discuss prospects of education in professional law, and negotiations would also involve the University of Dunaújváros. According to Szabó, they were working on the establishment of a cooperation network between various universities, which would include Russian experts holding lectures in Hungary, and Hungarian students visiting Russian universities to study. As the majority of Rosatom’s (Russian nuclear energy state corporation) leadership had studied at Moscow, Szabó inferred that it would be most reasonable to involve the institution in the education of Paks’s professional staff. When asked about the reasons for the decline of the budding cooperation, the attorney replied that
That IRIAS had already contacted Hungarian universities earlier is attested by a post dating back to the 12th of June 2017. According to the information presented, András Torma, the then-rector of the University of Miskolc, had signed a cooperation agreement with IRIAS regarding the “establishment of a high-level cooperation in science and research”. At the same time the University would sign another agreement of cooperation with the Moscow-based National Nuclear Research University, represented by Professor Alexander Valentinovich Putilov. The agreement was aimed at the establishment of a general cooperation between the institutions, including mutual educational and research activities, as well as the deepening of their ties regarding science and research. The IRIAS website mentions nothing of the continuation and results of the agreements. We have also tried to contact the University of Miskolc, but so far no reply has arrived.
We have, however, received a rebuttal from Pécs: “Between the two institutions, the University of Pécs (PTE, “Pécsi Tudományegyetem”), and IRIAS, there isn’t, and never has been any formally signed agreement of cooperation. The PTE Faculty of Law did indeed cooperate with the National Nuclear Research University during the second half of the 2010’s regarding the establishment of undergraduate and postgraduate education in nuclear law, which was opened by the event referred to in your e-mail. However, the professional cooperation was discontinued in 2019” – the PTE Rector’s Office informed us.
This aligns only partially with the reporting of local media at the time, according to which even FIDESZ mayor Zsolt Páva had received the “renowned Russian scientists” in a meeting concerning the impending Paks nuclear expansion. Ageev and Putilov visited Pécs to attend the I. Russo-Hungarian Nuclear Law Conference, organised by the PTE Faculty of Law. The article refers to an “education programme in nuclear law” aimed at lawyers partaking in the Paks expansion project, although the visit of the Russian scientists happened within the framework of the 2017 agreement between PTE, the Russian National Nuclear Research University and IRIAS – as written by pecsma.hu (“Pecsma” stands for “Pécs Today”). The article also reveals that the guests emphasized that although such agreements of cooperation had been prepared with several Hungarian universities, they considered the one with PTE to be of particular importance due to the geopolitical situation of Pécs.
Two days after the conference in Pécs, on the 14th of June, Ageev held a work meeting with the participation of János Józsa, the then-rector of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME, “Budapesti Műszaki Egyetem”), as well as Iván Szabó. No details were shared about the event, although its significance was highlighted by mentioning that BME boasts one of the richest histories amongst Hungary’s and Europe’s technological higher educational institutions, as well as having around 1100 employees and over 24 thousand students, a third of which is comprised of international exchange students.
“There isn’t and has never been any scientific or other professional connection between IRIAS and BME” – we were informed by the University. Within the field of academia, we have also contacted Corvinus University’s Zoltán Sz. Bíró, asking whether he knows anything about IRIAS, but he claims never to have come across the organisation.
We have also contacted Attila Aszódi, who had worked on the Paks expansion as government commissioner between 2014 and 2017 and as secretary of state up to early 2019, asking whether he had ever come into contact with Ageev and IRIAS, either as a professor of BME or in the framework of his service for the state. Aszódi, however, could not recall ever having met Professor Ageev, although mentioning that he had met countless people during his career, and he could not guarantee remembering everyone. IRIAS similarly rang no bells. He also replied that he has no knowledge of BME having any kind of cooperation with the organisation, and that the Institute of Nuclear Techniques, of which he is a professor, has certainly none.
Based on the replies, it seems that Professor Ageev’s activity in Hungary during 2017-2018 concerned mostly the Paks II nuclear expansion project, but as the process ground to a halt, his responsibilities as an organiser also lost their significance, or at least there is no evidence of further activity on his part. But these replies have not taken us closer to figuring out why the Moscow-based organisation decided to take the initiative and found a trade representation in Budapest during the fall of 2022. That much, however, is certain that Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, tasked with the supervision of the expansion project, had the CEO at the helm of Paks II replaced, not long before János Süli – by then demoted to secretary of state – was forced to leave his position. Moreover, the plant’s management and supervision boards also saw a comprehensive changing of the guard, and since then reports of accelerating construction have multiplied.
Translation by Frigyes Harmat.
