Both the Hungarian and Chinese sides gave their assessments at the talks and basically agreed that the Chinese operator of the pavilion is waiting compensation for work completed, said deputy commissioner Cecília Szilas, reporting to the Public Administration and Justice Ministry. The Hungarian chief contractor cannot legally meet its obligations, thus a way is being sought for the Chinese company to directly recoup its costs, she added.
István Dégen, managing director of the main contractor Genexpo 2010, blamed the problems at home on differences in legal interpretations.
Jian Jieyong, CEO of Shanghai-based Tien Ji, said his company had earlier asked its Hungarian partner Expo Trade, verbally and in writing, for a written guarantee of payment from the government for future work. A decision on the answer is being reached in Budapest.
MTI learnt that the Chinese sub-contractor is working for a fixed price and submits an invoice for cleaning, technical work and security tasks three times a month. The company has a staff of 64.
The pavilion director said earlier that about two months pay from April and May is owed the company, or between EUR 30,000 and EUR 35,000.
The main attraction of the pavilion is the Gömböc, a self-righting object created by two Hungarian inventors. The Gömböc rights itself when in stable equilibrium, much like a roly-poly toy, but because of its shape, not because of its weight. The Gömböc is thus the first known homogenous object with one stable and one unstable equilibrium point.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: MTI
