Page 24 - bne magazine September 2020 russia melting

24 I Companies & Markets bne September 2020
IT group close
to government establishes Hungary's first commercial satellite business
Tamas Szilagyi in Budapest
Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE)-listed IT company 4iG has established a company that aims to launch and operate Hungary's first satellite suitable for commercial, governmental and scientific research missions in 2024, it announced on August 17.
4iG holds a 51% controlling stake in the company, called CarpathiaSat Magyar Urtavkozlesi, that was established with a capital reserve of HUF365mn (€1.05mn) and a share capital of HUF5mn.
Terrestrial broadcasting company Antenna Hungary has a 44% stake in the venture and New Space Industries holds 5%. CarpathiaSat will have the right to operate in a geostationary orbit for 20 years from 2024, 4iG said.
Hungary's most powerful oligarch, Lorinc Meszaros, acquired the majority stakes in 4iG in 2018 through his flagship firm Opus. The company was flooded with state orders, a well- known recipe for success for firms acquired by Meszaros after taking ownership of companies.
Chairman-CEO of 4iG Gellert Jaszai (r) takes award for best performing share in 2018 from former head of Budapest bourse operator.
4iG was the best performing stock on the Budapest bourse as its price rose six-fold in 2018. The share price retreated from a record HUF1,000 a year ago to HUF665.
A year ago Meszaros sold his stake to his business partner, former CEO of Konzum Gellert Jaszai, who now holds more than 50% of the shares.
The strategic goal of 4iG is to become the leading IT and info-communication company not just in Hungary, but in the broader CEE region, and to establish a dominant position in the telecommunications sector, 4iG said in a statement.
The launch and long-term operation of the first satellite for Hungarian broadcasting, Internet and telephone services, data transmission, and other research tasks fit well into 4iG's growth strategy, chairman-CEO Jaszai said.
The venture aims to collaborate with domestic and international companies with significant experience in the industry as well as with Hungarian universities and researchers, he added.
Lithuania’s Ignitis to invest €950mn in green
energy in Baltics, Poland
Linas Jegelevicius in Vilnius
Ignitis, a Lithuanian energy group formerly known as Lietuvos Energija, is set to invest up to €950mn in increasing its green energy capacities in the Baltic countries and Poland by the year 2023.
A strategy document of Ignitis Group calls for an increase in green energy capacity from the present 1.1 GWh to 1.6-1.8 GWh by 2023, Ignitis announced on July 28.
According to the updated long-term strategy, the company
www.bne.eu
will raise its generating capacity based on renewable energy resources to 4 GWh by 2030.
The investments will be made in wind, solar, hydro, waste and biomass powered plants and other green energy solutions in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
The new Ignitis strategy also calls for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, which is consistent with the goals set by the UN.