A month ago, Szilveszter Ókovács denied what led to his dismissal on Monday.

Ókovács Szilveszter was dismissed from his position as head of the Hungarian State Opera due to financial irregularities uncovered during an audit. The Ministry of Culture revealed that he received unauthorized bonuses exceeding several hundred thousand forints monthly, which required ministerial approval. Rita Benyó, a radio host, noted that Ókovács had previously denied receiving any payments beyond his salary. The audit also disclosed that he was paid over 660,000 forints monthly for writing daily notes without proper authorization. Ókovács has stated that he was never contacted by the ministry during the audit process.