From July, 752 kilometres of railway track will be transferred from the MÁV group into the operation of Austrian-Hungarian joint company GYSEV Plc., the Ministry of Transport has recently announced. This measure affects 13 railway lines in the north-western part of Transdanubia, with the freed-up vehicles eventually serving in the eastern part of the country. (The operation of the lines does not automatically mean the takeover of passenger transport activities; from 1 July, this will initially happen only on the Zalaegerszeg-Celldömölk section, with GYSEV – Raaberbahn, according to its Austrian name – assuming public service on the other lines gradually.)
At the beginning of the year, János Lázár had already announced that GYSEV’s resources would be more extensively integrated into Hungarian railway transport. He also mentioned that from the summer peak season, GYSEV would take on additional tasks. The Minister of Construction and Transport made the announcement after the Hungarian state gained a qualified majority in the 150-year-old Austrian-Hungarian railway company, allowing it to make all significant decisions independently. As previously reported, the Hungarian side used shrewd manoeuvring to prevent the Austrian state from participating in the capital increase and raised its ownership stake above 75% at an extraordinary general meeting held just before Christmas. As a result of this move, the minority owner became entirely vulnerable to the Hungarian side.
GYSEV submitted its application for the registration of the forcibly implemented changes, including the capital increase and the new ownership structure, to the Company Court of the Győr Tribunal on 16 January. However, the Austrian co-owner did not accept getting the short end of the stick, and legal proceedings have begun. The plaintiff is the Austrian Ministry of Transport, while the defendant is GYSEV Plc., with the Ministry of Construction and Transport intervening in support of GYSEV. Virág Heinzelmann, the lawyer representing the Austrian state at the general meeting, submitted a declaration to the Company Court, stating that the Hungarian state’s capital increase had not been approved by the Austrian side. According to her, the Hungarian side acted unlawfully by excluding the Republic of Austria from the capital increase, despite the latter meeting all the necessary prerequisites.
