“The International Green Week in Berlin has had a good effect on German-Hungarian relations. The existing historical, political and economic links have been reinforced thanks to the fact that the Hungarian stand welcomed a record 400 thousand visitors”, Minister of Agriculture Sandor Fazekas said on Hungarian television’s morning show.

Hungary was the guest of honour at the world’s largest and most important agriculture fair. Mr. Fazekas said it was a rare occasion to have some many people interested in Hungarian foods all at once, adding that he hoped Hungary would profit from the twenty bilateral talks he had held with ministers and state secretaries during the course of the expo in the form of concrete business deals.

“The interest of the German press was centred on Hungary and Hungarian foods during the ten days of the fair. Germany is a country of destination for outstanding Hungarian food industry products and German consumers are interested in high quality, natural and GMO-free products and traditional flavours, and this is encouraging”, the Minister highlighted. “Increased interest means more jobs in Hungary and an increase in the some 1.3 billion euros in exports that are already shipped to Germany every year”, he said.

Mr. Fazekas also mentioned that premium Hungarian foods would also be showcased at the Prodexpo international expo to be held in Moscow between 6-10 February. “Prodexpo is the Russian food economy’s largest exhibition, in which many foreign producers and products take part, and where we must also be present in preparation for the lifting of the embargo. We cannot ship meat, vegetables and fruit because of the ban, but we are still exporting, for instance the embargo does not include agricultural seeds, processed foods or wine”, he explained.

“The dispute between Russia and the European Union and the resulting sanctions and embargo policy has resulted in a fifty to seventy percent reduction in Hungarian exports to Russia, but we still have our plants and production capacities that are accredited to Russia. The Russian market is a market that holds perspective for us, and this another reason why we must also be present at the expo, which begins next Tuesday”, Mr. Fazekas explained.

(Ministry of Agriculture Press Office)