Hungary to Pay Canadian Airport Firm $83 million

BUDAPEST, Hungary_The Hungarian government will pay Canada's Airport Development Corp. as much as 18 billion forints (US$83.4 billion) after it lost a lawsuit over the operation of a terminal at Budapest's Ferihegy Airport.

"The government will pay within the 30-day limit imposed by the court," Finance Minister Janos Veres said Thursday.

The Canadian company won a contract in 1994 to build and operate Ferihegy's 2B terminal until 2010 in a joint venture with Hungarian state-owned LRI. The Hungarian government subsequently anulled the contract in 2001 and handed over to state-owned Budapest Airport.

Last year, the government sold the airport to Britain's BAA PLC for US$2.20 billion, the largest single privatization deal since the end of communism in 1990.

Veres said the payout ordered by a London-based arbitration court would not change the anticipated budget deficit 10.1 percent this year.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.