ON THE RECORD

ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPORTANT FOR HUNGARIANS

Hungarian consumers believe it is important that their household appliances are energy efficient, and the majority are willing to pay a premium for appliances with a better energy rating, but many are not aware of the meaning of energy labels, according to a recent survey by Euronics, a chain of technical stores. The survey says nearly half of respondents would choose an energy efficient appliance if it met the criteria that were most important to them, and almost half (42%) said that it was an essential aspect for them. Only 12% said that energy saving had little or no influence on their decision. Respondents ranked energy efficiency as a top priority for refrigerators (83%), washing machines (74%), freezers (67%) and boilers (63%), while it was least important for televisions (42%) and microwave ovens (37%). The majority of respondents were also prepared to pay a premium to have an appliance that uses less energy. 43% are willing to pay 5-7% more, a quarter of them 8-10% more and 8% even 10-20% more. However, about a quarter of those surveyed are reluctant to do so.

DOMESTIC SALES OF USED CARS FALLING IN HUNGARY

Compared to a year before, domestic sales of used cars declined in Hungary in September 2022, but have been increasing since the beginning of the year compared to the same period last year, joautok.hu [‘Good Cars’] told the state news agency MTI. According to Datahouse, 68,586 used cars were sold in Hungary this September, compared to 72,183 a year ago. Before that, only in July did the market fail to reach last year's level, so sales in the first nine months of the year rose from 612,100 to 636,400 year-on-year. During this period, 76% of the vehicles were at least ten years old, and 51% were lower-middle-range or small cars, they said. As joautok.hu stated, the deteriorating economic situation is reducing demand, but the first half of the year was still good, so the domestic market for used cars could surpass last year's record of 817,300 units by a few percentage points year-on-year. The decline is also confirmed by quarterly totals, with 217,000 changes of ownership recorded in the first three months, followed by 211,000 and 208,000 between the beginning of July and the end of September, they added. However, they pointed out that the weakening of the Hungarian currency, the forint against the euro and the tightening of supply in Western Europe are making imports even tighter. In August and September, imports fell short of 10,000 units, although the annual total of vehicles imported from abroad rose from 98,000 to 99,300 by the end of September.

BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA NAMED ORCHESTRA OF THE YEAR

The Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO) has been voted Orchestra of the Year, according to an announcement at the Gramophone Awards gala event in London early October. Iván Fischer's ensemble competed with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bavarian State Orchestra, among others, in the competition of the world's most prestigious classical music magazine and received more than a third of the votes. The BFO was nominated by a jury of experts as one of the ten best based on its Brahms recording of the previous year, from which the international audience could choose its favorite. The prize was presented to BFO Managing Director Orsolya Erdődy, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, András Simor at a ceremony in the British capital. The Budapest-based orchestra was certainly not only voted for by the Hungarian public, as they have a large fan base in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, among other countries, thanks to their constant touring and record releases.

BUDAPEST REMAINS THE MOST LIVABLE IN HUNGARY

Overall, Budapest and the western part of the country offer better opportunities in education, culture, shopping and the labor market, while in Eastern Hungary, it is easier to get a home, according to a survey, conducted by Takarék Jelzálogbank [‘Savings Mortgage Bank’] on education, healthcare, culture, crime, the labor market, shopping opportunities and housing affordability. The experts have compiled a ranking of the comparative livability of the county's county seats, which is again topped by the capital. Here too, the gap in scores between Budapest (100 points) and the other cities is relatively strong. Veszprém came second with 78.9 points and Győr third with 68.9. Debrecen, in fourth place with 60.4 points, was 12th last year. The top ten also includes Székesfehérvár (60.3 points), Szekszárd (59.9), Pécs (58.9), Szombathely (58.4), Zalaegerszeg (57.2) and Kaposvár (55.3). At the bottom of the list are Kecskemét, Salgótarján and Békéscsaba, with less than half the points of Budapest: 42.1, 41.6 and 39.2 points respectively.

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OUTSTANDING HUNGARIAN JAZZ FIGURE PASSES AWAY

Kossuth Prize-winning pianist, composer, national artist and outstanding figure of Hungarian jazz, Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, passed away in early October at the age of 79. Born on July 8, 1943 in Budapest, he started playing the piano at the age of nine, only then did his family have enough money to buy him an instrument. He was introduced to jazz as a student at the Béla Bartók Music School and his interest turned to improvisation, a more informal genre. In 1970, he was a member of Aladár Pege's double bass quartet, which won second prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival. He worked for six months in a Hungarian restaurant in New York, went to jazz clubs in his spare time and returned home with a cheap Fender piano. He was the first to use this instrument in Hungary. In the 1970s and ‘80s, he made an unparalleled contribution to the rise of fusion jazz in Hungary. He taught jazz piano at the Béla Bartók Secondary School of Music and gave a master class at the Liszt Academy. Like his idol, Leonard Bernstein, he was also a highly versatile musician, having played in ensembles and solo, composed his own music and jazz standards, performed classical concertos with large orchestras, with young jazz talents and with the 100-member Gypsy Orchestra alike.