Majtényi handed his letter of resignation personally to President of the Republic László Solyom on Thursday, the Office of the President said. He explained his reasons for leaving in detail during a talk with the president.

ORTT awarded concessions to operate Hungary's two country-wide commercial Rádió frequencies to Advenio and to a consortium led by Est Media Group (EMG), an ORTT official told MTI on condition of anonymity on Wednesday.

The ORTT rejected bids for the seven-year concessions by incumbent pop-music stations Slager Rádió and Danubius Rádió, the source said.

The decision was unanimous, but the delegate of the liberal opposition Free Democrats did not participate in the vote.

Majtényi, of the ruling Socialist party, said he did not support Advenio and FM1's bids and would have favoured their rejection on formal grounds as well as for what he insisted were weak business and financial plans. The chairman cannot vote according to ORTT rules. He added that the liberal member János Tímár shared his view and declined to participate in the vote.

"I don't think the case is closed; I think this is just the start of a scandal," Majtényi told MTI on Wednesday, adding that the winners can be sued for the rights to the frequencies.

The ORTT announced on Thursday that the Est Media Group-led FM1 consortium had been awarded 94 points in the evaluation while Advenio took 98 points. Slager Rádió received 69 points and Danubius Rádió 75 points. (MTI-Econews)