Zoltán Varga (born 17 September 1952 in

Miskolc Miskolc ( , , ; Czech language, Czech and sk, Miškovec; german: Mischkolz; yi, script=Latn, Mishkoltz; ro, Mișcolț) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 (1 Jan 2014) Miskolc is the ...

) is a Hungarian engineer-economist and politician. He was the Minister of Local Government in cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Gordon Bajnai György Gordon Bajnai (; born 5 March 1968) is a Hungarian entrepreneur and economist, who served as the Prime Minister of Hungary from 2009 to 2010. Prior to that, he functioned as Minister of Local Government and Regional Development from 2007 ...

. Since 2006 he is one of the members of the

Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

Political career

He spent his student years in

, although he did his secondary school studies in

Kazincbarcika Kazincbarcika is an industrial town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary. It lies in the valley of the river Sajó, away from the county capital, Miskolc. History Kazincbarcika was created during the Socialist industrialization ...

, in a Chemical Industry Technical School. He obtained a chemical industry graduate engineer diploma at the Pollack Mihály Technological College in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...

. First he obtained a special engineer then an engineer-economist diploma. Although he met his wife, Erzsébet Vági in Pécs, he established a family in

Orosháza Orosháza is a city situated in the westernmost part of Békés county, Hungary, on the Békés ridge bordered by the rivers Maros and Körös. Orosháza is an important cultural, educational and recreational centre of the region. Main sigh ...

, where in 1979 he worked in the local glassworks as a graduate engineer. In 1997 he left the glassworks in Orosháza as the works manager when he was elected as the president of the Representative Body of

Békés County Békés (, , ro, Județul Bichiș) is an administrative division (county or ''megye'') in south-eastern Hungary, on the border with Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Csongrád, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, and Hajdú-Bihar. The ...

. From 1998 he worked as a works manager of the industrial park in Orosháza when in the municipal elections he was elected as the president of the general assembly in Békés County again. In 1990 he was a founder member of the Organisation in Orosháza of the

Hungarian Socialist Party The Hungarian Socialist Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Párt), commonly known by its acronym MSZP, is a centre-left social-democratic and pro-European political party in Hungary. It was founded on 7 October, 1989 as a post-communist evolution a ...

. In 1994 he was elected as the member of the representative body in Békés County. Meanwhile, until 1997 he was the leader of the parliamentary group of the Hungarian Socialist Party. He occupied this position between 1998 and 2002 as well. During this time period he also worked as the president of the Economic Committee. In 2000 he was elected as the party's vice president of the county which position he still occupies. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

at the parliamentary elections he obtained a mandate on the regional list in Békés County.

Trivia

He has an oral intermediate language exam in English. In his free time he likes playing tennis and going on excursions.

References

*MTI Ki Kicsoda 2009, Magyar Távirati Iroda Zrt., Budapest, 2008, 1159. old.,
Életrajz az MSZP honlapjánVarga országgyűlési adatlapja
1952 births Living people People from Miskolc Hungarian Socialist Party politicians Hungarian Interior Ministers Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2006–2010) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2010–2014) Members of the Bajnai Government {{Hungary-politician-stub