Balázs Rákossy

Lawyer, 42. Speaks English, German, French and Russian. He was born in Pécs, and he also studied there. He got his law degree at the Faculty of Law of the Janus Pannonius University of Sciences in 1995. After this he obtained master’s degrees in law at the universities of Oxford and Maastricht, specialized in European and comparative law. His professional fields are economic and commercial law, the law of the European Union, competition law, and financial and investment market regulation. In the period of the first Orbán government (1998-2002) he was political advisor and director general for József Szájer who was heading the Fidesz parliament group at the time. Between 2002 and 2004 he was legal advisor for the Budapest agency of the European Committee, and he was responsible for the legal preparations of the accession negotiations that led to Hungary’s adherence to the European Union. From 2004 he has been legal director of national and international companies both in Hungary and abroad (Pfizer, British American Tobacco, MOL). In the period of the second Orbán government, between 2010 and 2012 he was director general for Mihály Varga, State Secretary leading the Prime Minister’s Office at the time. After that he became director general for the Minister without Portfolio assigned to relations with various financial organizations (IMF, WB, EBRD, etc.). From March 2013 he has been director general of the Minister of National Economy.