“Cooperation between Hungary and Russia on heavy industry development projects and technologically intensive sectors will be further tightened”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced.
Following his meeting with Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Mr. Szijjártó told reporters that Hungarian and Russian enterprises are being encouraged to submit and participate in joint tenders, primarily on third markets.
“The most important of these is the Egyptian railway tender, on which Hungarian and Russian enterprises have proven that they are capable of submitting a competitive, joint proposal. Egyptian Railways may not have decided on the issue as yet, but to ensure the success of the Hungarian-Russian consortium, Eximbank extended its loan offer on Wednesday, meaning they are still in competition for the order”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister explained.
“Within the framework of heavy industry cooperation, we view the situation of Dunaferr in a similar fashion and are in agreement with regard to the fact that there are huge opportunities available. Last year, the Russian party invested 20 million euros, and this year the level of Russian investment is expected to exceed even that figure, meaning Dunaferr’s operations and further expansion is assured”, he said.
Mr. Szijjártó told reporters that the parties had also agreed to continue the Hungarian-Russian space research programme, and that this cooperation had already achieved significant success so far. “Russia has specifically entrusted certain phases to Hungarian suppliers and developers, as a result of which a major export-capable dedicated industry has developed in Hungary, and accordingly the Hungarian Government has decided to support the continuation of this programme with 200 million forints and will be placing greater emphasis on this cooperation in future”, he said.
Mr. Szijjártó also said that the fact that, following successful agricultural technology projects, Hungarian water management projects are also now being promoted in Russia is a success story, and the goal is for Budapest Waterworks to play a role in the management of the water systems of as many Russian cities as possible.
“On Wednesday, the Hungarian Government decided to earmark 2.4 billion forints from this year’s budget for the renovation of four Russian Orthodox churches in Hungary”, he noted.
In reply to a question, the Minister told reporters: Hungary is maintaining its existing standpoint, according to which the EU sanctions have been a failure from both a political and economic perspective, and their continued existence is causing major damage not only to Russia, but to Europe too, and “it would be best if the sanctions were lifted”.
“The Hungarian economy has lost 6.7 billion dollars in export opportunities during the past three years as a result of the sanctions; this is how much the level of Hungarian exports to Russia and the former states of the Soviet Union have decreased since 2013”, he explained, adding: “This is what we would like to make up for in the long term”.
(MTI)
