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 - Storm clouds
ATTACK ON THE O M F B cumbersome, so they selected a company to deal with all of the OMFB’s imports, regardless of whether the product was in the company’s profile or not, and this partner was Transelektro.423,424 The company’s CEO at the time was Mihály Farkas (no relation to his namesake, Rákosi ’s defence minister), and it was a head of division called Sándor Udvardi at the Ministry of Foreign Trade who signed the ministerial order that appointed Transelektro as the OMFB’s purchaser.423 424 425 Udvardi was previously a member of the hardcore established around Sebestyén in Frankfurt and assisted his former boss’ work from the Ministry of Foreign Trade after returning home. 423 Transelektro was in charge of the commercial dealings of the high-voltage industry. 424 ÁBTL 3.1.5 0-15829/3, p. 175 Conversation with Gyula Sinka, 22 May 1970 425 ÁBTL 3.1.5 0-15829/3, p. 183 Summary report, 29 May 1970 426 Práczki 2014, p. 173 427 ÁBTL 2.7.1 Daily Operational Information Reports (NOIJ) 1984-BRFK-140, 2 October 1984 428 ÁBTL 3.1.5 0-15829/3, p. 183 Summary report, 29 May 1970 Mihály Farkas was active as a military intelligence man. From the top job at Transelektro, he was transferred to the foreign trade office in Paris in 1968, where he became the superior of István Práczki, who served as an officer of military intelligence.426 Farkas is therefore highly likely to have been a permanent officer of military intelligence, instead of helping the service as a committed source. At the helm of Transelektro, he established close business ties with the management of Siemens as OMFB’s buyer. This paid off on his return from his mission in Paris when he was appointed manager of the company Sicontact, the representation office in Budapest, we will present in detail later.427 In 1968, he was replaced by Gyula Sinka as Transelektro’s CEO. The OMFB was not even obliged to request counter-offers, at least according to a letter by the Ministry of Foreign Trade from 1966. Instead, it was essentially able to conclude agreements with any partner of their choosing without any competitive selection process. The letter was allegedly signed by a ministry official, but even state security dared not question the validity of the authorisation’.428 At the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Sebestyén and the group around him had supporters other than Udvardi and the oft-mentioned János 155
