Borvendég Zsuzsanna: Fabulous Spy Games. How international trade networks with the West developed after 1945 - A Magyarságkutató Intézet Kiadványai 24. (Budapest, 2021)
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION fund communist internationalism, and shows clearly how a corrupt foreign trade network under the cover of the secret services was built and opened up the opportunity to create a capitalist economic elite within the framework of a socialist market economy, and beyond that framework, in fact, by illegally using secret commissions and constitutional costs’ ‘The Age of the Impexes’ tried to get to the bottom of how this elite was linked to international financial networks, describing the method used by the group of socialist capitalists to transfer the accumulating profits into offshore companies and offshore bank accounts; and shedding light on the crucial role that technology transfer and embargoed transports played in this mechanism. These revelations offered a new approach to understanding the Kádár system, these correlations, however, are far from frequently discussed in academic or everyday public discourse. The limitations of this book do not allow me to support every claim I have made in previous books with new evidence, or to explain them, so I apologise to readers who may have a harder time following the events unfolding along a number of lines and the series of often far-reaching correlations without knowledge of the background or history of such events. My research and the writing of this book was sponsored by the Topical Programme of Excellence. A huge thanks should go to my employer, the Institute for Hungarian Studies, and my colleagues, Director General Dr Gábor Horváth-Lugossy and Deputy Director General Dr László Tamás Vizi, who ensured all the necessary conditions were satisfied to support my work. I am grateful also to Zsófia Eőry for her solicitous and thorough proofreading, and I am also thankful to Szilárd Simon and Petronella Erdei for their patient and forthcoming assistance with the administrative chores of the project. The editor of this book, as with my previous works, was Dr Pál Germuska, whose outstanding professional knowledge contributed to enhancing the quality of the content. I am forever indebted to him. My conversations with Gábor Ligetfalvi inspired me greatly, his ability to put his finger on the essence of things and his understanding of the operation of various networks spanning different historical periods helped me look at events with a broader perspective. Let me also thank my first reader, András Halász, whose merciless criticism puts my sentences in order and weeds out the occasional mixed metaphor. But 13
