The number of liquidation procedures started against Hungarian companies could rise to 17,000 by year-end, up from 11,500 at the end of 2008, Ms Csorbai said. The number of procedures started has been about 2,500 per quarter since Q3 2008, but rose sharply to more than 4,000 in Q2, and the number has not peaked yet, she added. The average revenue of companies against which liquidation procedures were started rose 35pc in H1, showing bigger companies are being hit by hard times. As more big companies become insolvent, so will their sub-contractors, Ms Csorbai said. The two biggest liquidations in H1 were steel company DAM, with annual revenue of HUF 25bn and 881 employees, and the Herz Salami Factory, with revenue of HUF 8.8bn and 327 staff. About half of the owners of companies that go under liquidation establish new companies, Ms Csorbai said. About 7,000 companies were removed from the company register and 11,000 new ones were added in H1. About 70pc of new companies are established by owners of companies that went under liquidation.