“The facts prove that the Hungarian Government made the right decision when it based its Russia policy on common sense and mutual respect”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told Hungarian news agency MTI by telephone from Moscow on Tuesday.
“We may again state that Hungarian-Russian economic and trade cooperation is once again all about success”, the Minister emphasised, adding that “it is good news for both Hungarian enterprises and the Hungarian people that Hungarian jobs are being created at Hungarian companies thanks to the dynamic expansion of Hungarian-Russian economic relations”.
The Minister explained that following the decline of recent years, bilateral trade flow between the two countries increased by 30 percent during the first four months of 2017, with Hungarian exports increasing by 24 percent to reach 600 million dollars. Mr. Szijjártó felt it was important to highlight the fact that the increase in trade turnover was fundamentally led by sectors with high added value, which is a piece of good new in itself. Pharmaceutical industry exports increased by 40 percent, and Hungarian pharmaceuticals company Richter is now one of the top ten market-leading drug manufacturers in Russia with investments of over 100 million euros.
“Hungarian grain exports to Russia increased by 88 percent, which was given impetus by the activities of Hungarian-owned agricultural enterprises operating in Russia”, the Minister said, drawing special attention to the feed plant that has been operating in Tula County since April, which was established with an investment of 3 billion forints, the meat plant in Sverdlovsk, which was realised with an investment of 5 billion forints, the spice mixing plant which will begin operations near Moscow in the autumn and the grain processing plant in Mordovia, which has already been operating for two years now.
The Minister also mentioned that investments by Hungarian oil company MOL had exceeded 1.3 billion dollars and the company had drawn up a new development plan for the oil field it owns, including the drilling of forty wells, with production already reaching 7000 barrels-a-day.
The Hungarian delegation signed a 500 million forint agreement on Tuesday in Moscow, according to which Hungarian steel manufacturer Dunaferr will be purchasing modern machinery from a Russian company in the interests of further increasing the company’s performance and creating more jobs.
Mr. Szijjártó also mentioned tourism in view of the fact that the number of Russian tourists visiting Hungary increased by 39 percent during the first four months of this year to exceed 50 thousand, adding that he expects further growth thanks to the new direct air route between Budapest and Saint Petersburg, which will be launched in August.
During the Hungarian Foreign Minister’s official visit to Russia, an agreement was also concluded on the fact that a Hungarian company will be building a 17.5 billion forint (EUR 56M) sport and leisure complex in Chelyabinsk.