Imre Boros

Former minister Imre Boros served as Hungary's delegate on the Board of Directors of the Russian-dominated International Investment Bank (IIB), after the bank relocated its headquarters from Moscow to Budapest in 2019 at Viktor Orbán's invitation. A 2019 VSquare.org investigation reported that Boros had previously been accused of ties to the Communist-era state security service, which he denied. When asked about concerns that the bank could be used to embed Russian intelligence operatives, Boros told Direkt36: "The Russians would need to be very desperate to use this bank for espionage," and on the choice of headquarters location he said "part of the consideration is that it should be in a prestigious location while also fulfilling the requirements of modern office technology." The same reporting noted that governing-party MPs on parliament's national security committee asked no questions and sought no information about the bank. The US placed the IIB and three of its leading officials under sanctions in April 2023, after which Hungary withdrew from the institution — Boros remained the bank's senior Hungarian board representative throughout its entire Budapest period.