Pedro Vargas David, general manager of Alpak Kapital and head of “Operation N1”, was a member of the board of directors of 4iG, the umbrella body of the company whose dealings with the state will now be subject to an audit in Hungary
The story of the takeover of the media group N1, which is being bought by a Portuguese investment company Alpac Capital, connected with Hungarian capital from the circle of the former prime minister Viktor Orban, is getting a new sequel.
Namely, another player entered the story: the new Hungarian Prime Minister Peter the Hungarian. According to multiple media reports, the Hungarian on Tuesday ordered a comprehensive state audit of multibillion-euro contracts signed by the Hungarian state with telecommunications giant 4iG during Orbán’s rule. Its biggest owner is the Hungarian oligarch Gellert Jasai, writes the Slovenian portal Uncensored.
Why is this important for N1 sales? Because until last year, the board of directors of 4iG was i Pedro Vargas David, general manager of Alpak Kapital and head of “Operation N1” in Slovenia and other countries of the former Yugoslavia. This means that he participated in affairs that will now be reviewed by the new Hungarian government.
From 2021 until the end of last year, Vargas was a member of the board of directors of 4iG, the umbrella body of the company whose dealings with the state will now be subject to review. During this period, Alpak Kapital was a co-owner with almost six percent of the shares of 4iG, and the media stated that it had the role of a friendly shareholder.
All this proves how deeply intertwined the new owner of N1 is with Orbán’s circles. Today we reveal all the connections of Alpak Capital with Hungarian capital. The audit’s findings could again cast a dark light in the coming months on the operations of the Portuguese fund, which was fined by the local regulator in 2024 for serial breaches of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regulations.
What, then, is Vargas, who, according to the information of the Uncensored portal, is also interested in taking over the ownership of Nova24TV, the TV station of the SDS party, doing in Hungary? And which jobs are of interest to the Hungarian government?
Hungary’s new Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, has ordered a comprehensive state audit of multibillion-euro contracts signed by the Hungarian state during Orbán’s rule.
Businesses worth billions of euros with the state at the center of the audit
As the Hungarian announced, the auditors will review all contracts between the state and the company 4iG, which deals with telecommunications, IT and satellite technology, and also owns the operator Vodafone Hungary. He announced that “the findings will be made public, and all irregularities will be handed over to the competent institutions.”
The key information for the events in Slovenia is that Pedro Vargas David is also closely connected with the 4iG group. He became a member of its board of directors in April 2021. He was appointed to this position by the shareholders, the largest of whom is the oligarch Jasai.
Note: Vargas was able to do this a year before Alpac Capital became a co-owner of 4iG. He only bought his first shares in April 2022, just before the elections at the time, which were won by Orbán’s Fidesz party. Alpak Kapital acquired its first major block of shares during the capital increase it carried out together with the aforementioned oligarch. He later sold part of his shares to him.
Conclusion: Alpak Kapital played the role of a very friendly owner in 4iG, and Vargas sat on the seven-member board of directors for almost five years. He resigned at the end of 2025 because, according to his own words, he wanted to devote himself to managing investments in other countries.
Who is really behind the purchase of N1
All this is not surprising given the fact that Vargas is a businessman with extremely strong connections in Hungary. Here are just a few more examples:
– Already in 2017, the Hungarian state entrusted Alpak Kapital with the management of the fund established by the state export bank (Exim), OTP bank and the Hungarian energy giant Mol.
– Five years later, in 2022, Alpak Kapital completed the purchase of Juronujz television. He did this with the help of a financial contribution from one of the Hungarian state funds.
– Vargas’ father, Mario David, is a long-time adviser to Orbán who has also created friendly ties with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić.
It is not yet clear whether the financial resources for the purchase of N1, which in Slovenia would be followed by a “financial partnership” with Nova24TV two months after the change of government, come from these circles. We already reported that Alpak Kapital will officially implement the takeover through the European Future Media Investments (EFMI) fund, which this spring signed an agreement with United Group to buy its regional media, including N1 and Nova S televisions.
Source: Vreme
