The May 22 General Assembly of the Hungarian Economic Association (HEA) was naturally not only about the election of officers: delegates from the professional sections and county organizations also approved the report on the HEA’s financial management for 2025 and the association’s financial plan for 2026.
At the beginning of the General Assembly, Gábor Horváth, Chairman of the Fiscal Council, delivered a presentation on the state of public finances and the budgetary challenges facing the new government. The meeting also provided an excellent occasion for the presentation of awards: the Presidency of the Hungarian Economic Association awarded Certificates of Recognition to László Berta, owner and CEO of Zalaco Sütőipari Zrt. and recently retired President of the HEA Zala County Organization; Ágnes Csanádi, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Business Administration of the University Center of Zalaegerszeg at the University of Pannonia and former Vice President of the HEA Zala County Organization; and János Kámán, Managing Director of Pylon-94 Kft. and former Board Member of the HEA Zala County Organization — all three receiving recognition for their outstanding professional work carried out over several decades in support of the association.
Speaking about the results of 2025, HEA Secretary General Éva Hegedüs first evaluated the achievements of the association’s professional activities. She stated that, in addition to a successful annual conference of economists, the HEA’s professional activities in 2025 were characterized by around 90 professional events, more than 110 conference videos, over 80 podcasts, and hundreds of valuable media appearances. Among the outstanding events, she mentioned the National Meeting of Young Economists hosted by Eszterházy Károly Catholic University in Eger; the joint HEA conference organized with the Fiscal Council, where alongside the Romanian, Czech, and Hungarian Fiscal Council chairpersons, the Slovak Fiscal Council chairman also joined the panel; and the Economics Olympiad. She emphasized that in 2025 the HEA signed cooperation agreements with two additional higher education institutions: the University of Nyíregyháza and Corvinus University of Budapest. As the HEA Secretary General explained, the association’s growing activity is also reflected in membership numbers: in the past year, the HEA welcomed 214 new members.
Referring to the financial figures, she noted that the HEA closed 2025 with a surplus of HUF 9.763 million. Revenue from membership fees increased significantly in 2025 as a result of the membership fee increase, although unfortunately the proportion of members paying fees declined somewhat. The efficiency of membership fee payments may be improved by the modern payment solutions (qvik pay, payment request) introduced on the HEA website as of January 1, 2026. Éva Hegedüs also highlighted the 1% personal income tax donations offered by private individuals, which amounted to HUF 1.265 million in 2025 — significantly higher than in the previous year. This amount was donated by 35–40 individuals in support of the Hungarian Economic Association. The HEA Secretary General stressed that the association continues to comply with the requirements prescribed by the civil law, including the indicators necessary for maintaining its public benefit status.