Éva Hegedüs, a Corvinus alumna, elected President of the Hungarian Economic Association

Éva Hegedüs is the first female president in the 132-year history of the Hungarian Economic Association (MKT), from 1 June 2026. She succeeds Gyula Pleschinger, who held the position for nine years. Pleschinger, who also graduated from one of Corvinus University’s predecessor institutions, was elected honorary president for life by the delegates. 

The delegates also elected Zsolt Darvas, a researcher at the Brussels-based Bruegel Institute and senior research fellow at Corvinus, as a new member of the association’s presidency. Gábor Miklós Nagy, previously head of the MKT secretariat, became Secretary General of Hungary’s most important professional association for economists. 

At the election general assembly, held on 22 May at Corvinus University of Budapest, outgoing president Gyula Pleschinger reported to the delegates on the achievements of recent years. He said that the MKT had grown by six new sections in recent years and had probably become the most active professional civil organisation in Hungary. Its activity was not broken by Covid, quite the opposite: as a result of digitalisation, the MKT emerged stronger from the pandemic. Its professional events, including the annual itinerant conferences of economists, can now almost without exception be followed live and watched back on YouTube. 

Éva Hegedüs, the newly elected president, said that the MKT is a strong professional community where open and honest dialogue, meaningful professional debate, impartiality and independence are the foundations of the association’s credibility. The new president would like to make the MKT even more visible. She said answers must be sought to the most pressing social, economic and geopolitical challenges, including the introduction of the euro, strengthening the innovation capacity of the Hungarian economy, the spread of artificial intelligence and demographic trends. 

She stressed that winning over young people is a strategic issue. To support this, she plans to launch, among other initiatives, a mentoring programme for students and early-career professionals. The MKT is also seeking cooperation with its regional organisations, with regional chambers and local organisations of the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers. 

The MKT, which celebrates the 132nd anniversary of its foundation on 27 May, has around 3,000 members, 30 sections and 16 county organisations. Each year, it holds around 80 to 100 professional conferences. 

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Éva Hegedüs is an economist, banker and Chairperson and CEO of GRÁNIT Bank Plc. She graduated from the Budapest University of Economics in 1979. Between 1981 and 2002, she worked for various public administration bodies, serving several times as deputy state secretary. From 1997 to 2000, she was Deputy CEO of Földhitel- és Jelzálogbank; from 2002 to 2006, Deputy CEO of OTP Bank Plc and Chair of the Board of OTP Lakástakarékpénztár Zrt.; and from 2006 to 2010, Chairperson and CEO of BG Magyarország Ingatlanfinanszírozási Zrt. and BG Magyarország Lízing Zrt. Since May 2010, she has been CEO of GRÁNIT Bank Plc, later also becoming its Chairperson.  

She has been a member of the board of the Hungarian Banking Association since 2013. Since 2025, she has been Vice-President of the Banking Association for Central and Eastern Europe (BACEE). Her work has been recognised with numerous Hungarian and international awards, including MasterCard Banker of the Year in 2015, the Award for the Hungarian Economy in 2017, Manager of the Year in 2020, Forbes Hungary’s Most Influential Businesswoman from 2019 to 2025, and EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2024. She has served as Secretary General of the Hungarian Economic Association since 2014 and will become President of the MKT on 1 June 2026. 

Source: MKT