Hungary initiates transfer of state property to local councils, church

The government has drafted a bill for transferring, free-of-charge, state-owned property to local councils and the Catholic Church, the National Development Ministry said on Friday. The bill seeks to award 1,174 properties worth more than 1.2 billion forints (EUR 4.1m) to 419 local councils as well as transferring several churches to the Roman Catholic Church, the ministry said in a statement.