“Hungary is committed to the early realisation of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line development project”, Mihály Varga declared at a meeting with the Export-Import Bank of China in Beijing.

The Finance Minister highlighted: “Hungary is an active participant of the One Belt One Road Initiative, and the new railway line could play a central role at the western end of the New Silk Road”.

With relation to the railway line development project, which will be part of the railway corridor connecting the Port of Piraeus to Western Europe, Mr. Varga said: “The drawing up of the main contractor agreements is progressing well, and according to plan a decision on the consortium made up of Chinese and Hungarian companies that wins the tender could be made by the end of April”.

“Planning and permits work can begin following this, the goal being for the construction of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line to be completed by 2023. To facilitate this, the Government also wishes to simplify the procedures required for the project, and will be enabling the related authorities to issue the necessary permits within the framework of an accelerated procedure”, the Minister said.

In addition to contributing to the expansion and modernisation of currently lacking Central and Eastern European north-south railway links, an important criteria is also that Chinese companies transport the majority of goods destined for Europe to the continent via the Port of Piraeus, and without the Budapest-Belgrade railway line development project Hungary could be left behind in the competition for a transport route, he explained.

(Ministry of Finance)