Borvendég Zsuzsanna: Fabulous Spy Games. How international trade networks with the West developed after 1945 - A Magyarságkutató Intézet Kiadványai 24. (Budapest, 2021)
ATTACK ON THE OMFB - Ties running deep
FABULOUS SPY GAMES By early 1973, the investigation by state security could have become cumbersome for those who controlled the OMFB, and it was becoming increasingly clear that both Sebestyén and Geist had withdrawn their support for Endre Simon, who was selected as the scapegoat. Regarding the business negotiations conducted from this point on, it was subsequently emphasised that Simon took advantage of Sebestyént illness by acting independently and based on his own business ideas on behalf of the Technical Committee, without his boss even knowing.494 Simons telephone and office were tapped by counterintelligence, from which it emerged that he was truly determined to represent Siemens’ interests. That said, we are discussing the period just before and after the signature of the framework agreement, which was a framework agreement signed with Sebestyént approval. What is more, it had the support of the upper echelons of politics and the Soviets, so it is obvious that Simons business negotiations were definitely not his own private rogue operation. This is more likely to have been about the investigation that dragged on for over a decade and which began with the gathering of information against Emil Hoffmann during Sebestyént placement in Frankfurt back in 1959, and which also accompanied the establishment and early years of the OMFB. This must have become extremely inconvenient by the early seventies and had to be stopped one way or another. Endre Simon was blissfully unaware of all this. His telephone conversations with the representative of Siemens AG, recorded by state security, clearly show that he was confident in the belief that he had his powerful boss’ full support: “This is practically going to be a base. Let me spell it out for you. In Hungary, the OMFB will first sign a contract with all the directorates at Siemens. This is intended to address issues related to the scope of responsibility relating to the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of [Metallurgy and] Machine Industry, and we will be representing the entire matter in the different areas, but we will, of course, let you handle implementation. A budgetary committee will be set up to take care of illegal or semi-legal matters, keeping the interests of both parties in mind. 494 ÁBTL 3.1.5 0-15829/8. 115. Evaluation report, 22 February 1973 178
