Hungary’s state lottery names Zoltán Sólyom as CEO

Hungary has completed a leadership overhaul at state lottery operator Szerencsejáték Zrt, with Zoltán Sólyom appointed as chief executive officer (CEO) on October 27, 2026.

Finance Minister András Kármán began restructuring the company’s management after Péter Magyar’s Tisza party won a two-thirds majority in the April 12, 2026, election. He dismissed chairman and CEO Zoltán Guller on June 30, appointed Marcell Olajos as board chairman in mid-July, and recalled four directors, three of whom had served as senior officials in Fidesz-era ministries.

Sólyom has spent his career in insurance and finance, including at his own corporate insurance consultancy, which he set up in 1997. He joined Szerencsejáték’s supervisory board in August at Kármán’s request, alongside a seat on the board of the state investment firm Corvinus Nemzetközi Befektetési Zrt. His pay and the details of the selection process have not been published.

Kármán has said the operator was used to pay out taxpayer money to companies linked to the Fidesz government without proper justification, though he has not detailed individual payments.

Szerencsejáték made an after-tax profit of HUF 49.1 billion in 2025 on net revenue of HUF 1,310.9 billion. Days before the election, the outgoing Orbán government decided to take around HUF 52 billion of profit as a dividend. The new government has also ordered a review into abolishing the gambling regulator SZTFH and removing its concession powers.