Hungarian opposition party Jobbik launched a new billboard campaign featuring stylised images of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, calling him a gangster, but the posters may soon be removed from the streets by the government, which says they breach regulations, Hungarian media reported on September 27.

Hungary’s parliament approved legislation in the spring banning the use of political billboard posters outside campaign periods. The transparency bill, as it was referred to by governing parties, was drawn up to block covert party financing, but critics said it was aimed at silencing the opposition.

Jobbik, which has toned down its far-right rhetoric, positioning itself to the centre and putting anti-corruption at the core of its political agenda, launched a scathing billboard campaign in April, featuring images of Orban surrounded by oligarch Lorinc Meszaros, who is seen as the proxy to the prime minister.

Jobbik, in an attempt to outsmart the act on billboards, has become the new owner of 1,100 advertising spaces recently. The billboards are owned by Publimont, an outdoor ad company of Lajos Simicska, the former Fidesz treasurer before falling out with Orban in 2015, who is accused of entering into a secret deal with Jobbik.

The county government offices announced on Wednesday that Jobbik failed to release the list price of the posters, as stipulated by law, and therefore it will remove them.

Financing details between Publimont and Jobbik were not released but government portals on Wednesday reported that the deal was hammered out by lawyer Csaba Ajtony Nagy, the cousin of Simicska.

The billionaire, who has lost all state ads in his media and has not won a single public procurement contract since 2015, issued an unprecedented statement on Wednesday.

”I have asked my companies engaged in open air advertising not to publish any political content”, he said. "After passing legislation banning the display of political opinions in an absurd manner, the regime has taken open and aggressive steps, which makes it an impossible personal and financial risk on my part and that of my company’s leaders."

In related news, Hungarian media sources reported that Csaba Ajtony Nagy, who is also member on the board of directors of Index, held talks on selling Simicska's media empire with an American mediator in a Budapest café. State ad revenues for news channel HírTv and daily Magyar Nemzet dried up after Simicska's public row with Orban.