“Azerbaijan is playing a prominent role in increasing the security of Hungary’s energy supply”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI from Baku on Friday.

Hungary’s chief diplomat pointed out that the Caucasian country could become an important factor in assuring the security of Europe’s supply of natural gas, in view of the fact that the transport of Azerbaijani gas to Southern Europe could soon begin. “Hungary’s goal is to have a physical connection to the Southern European natural gas pipeline”, Mr. Szijjártó noted. “If the Greek, Bulgarian and Romanian parties also move ahead with construction work according to schedule, then a new source could appear in Hungary’s natural gas supply from 2023; Hungary will be able to purchase 1-2 billion cubic metres of natural gas each year from Azerbaijan”, he added.

“In addition to energy, the economy and the fight against the coronavirus pandemic play the most determining roles in Hungarian-Azerbaijani relations”, the Minister said. “As a member of the Turkic Council, Azerbaijan provided assistance to Hungary at the high-point of protecting against the coronavirus pandemic”, Mr. Szijjártó underlined. “We received forty thousand face masks and two thousand litres of hand sanitizer from the Caucasian country”, he added. “Hungary supports Azerbaijan’s initiative according to which the United Nations Secretary-General should convene an extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly at the earliest opportunity in the interests of finding a global solution to the pandemic”, he stated.

The Minister highlighted the fact that there are three large Hungarian corporations with an important presence on the Azerbaijani market. “One of them is WizzAir, which could be relaunching its air passenger services in August if the epidemiological situation allows it. The second is Hell, which is the market leader on Azerbaijan’s energy drink market with a share of 60 percent. And the third is MOL, which recently purchased a share in the world’s largest oil field, which can be found in Azerbaijan, and in the oil pipeline that transports the crude oil extracted there towards the West, for over 1.5 billion dollars”, he explained. “This was the largest investment ever realised by the Hungarian energy company. MOL is the project’s third largest shareholder”, Mr. Szijjártó added. “Thanks to the acquisition, two thirds of MOL’s oil production now comes from outside the Central European region”, he noted. “The Azerbaijani energy market is indispensable for enabling the Hungarian oil company to break out of its regional role”, the Minister explained.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)