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A random audit was carried out by the State Audit Office (SAO), which provides an interesting overview of the management of foundations and public foundations operating in Hungary. The audit report gives an insight into the management of 24 such organizations between 2016 and 2018, which included both state and “market”, capital and rural-run foundations and public foundations. At these institutions, the regulation of management and the transparency of the use and accountability of subsidies were examined. This type of risk assessment is necessary as these foundations use public property and because they relate to broad sections of society, they contribute to the development of public trust, the auditors said in their report.

The SAO's summary is instructive, but does not necessarily paint a serene picture of the sector: some kind of error was revealed in ten of the 24 institutions. The management of nine organizations was inadequate in some respects, and one institution was not even able to fully meet the conditions required for the audit. Among the best performers, however, was the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Foundation, which proved to be law-abiding in all respects and in every year examined. The report is available here.