“Hamburger Hungária Limited will be developing its paper plant in Dunaújváros with an investment of over 14 billion forints (EUR 44.3 million)”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced at a press conference in Budapest on Tuesday.
Mr. Szijjártó said the Government will be contributing 1.637bn forints (EUR 5.2 million) towards the plant development project, which will increase competitiveness and improve sustainability, and is expected to be completed by 2022. He justified the funding with the fact that Austrian-owned Hamburger Hungária is bringing new technologies to Hungary, similarly to other companies that are also planning research & development, and technologically intensive investments thanks to favourable production experiences. “The appearance of the latter broke all previous records in 2018, and the Government provided funding to seven technologically intensive and ten research & development investments”, the Minister pointed out.
“There is strong international competition for investments, and Hungary was chosen for the project being realised by Hamburger Hungária out of 15 possible locations”, he added. Mr. Szijjártó stressed that the Hungarian economy, which now has an investment promotion system that attracts high added value production and development projects, is expected to continue to grow at a rate that is at least 2 percent higher than the EU average.
According to the company’s managing director, the plant development project is justified not only because of market challenges, but also in view of long-term expansion and modernisation requirements. Attila Bencs added that the production efficiency improving investment will enable the company to meet market demand while also preserving natural resources, in addition to which production capacity will also be increasing.
The managing director said it was a success story that the Dunaújváros paper plant had fallen under the ownership of the Austrian Prinzhorn Group, in view of the fact that production has been increasing continuously since the acquisition, the plant recycles 800 thousand tons of waster paper each year, and the parent company has invested 150 billion forints (EUR 470 million) in Hungary over the past ten years. “As a result, the energy use of paper production has fallen by a third and carbon dioxide emissions have been cut by half”, he added. “Following the investment announced on Tuesday, which will involve the construction of a new production line and power plant, the annual production capacity of the Dunaújváros facility will increase from 700 thousand tons to 1 million tons”, Mr. Bencs told the press.
Mayor of Dunaújváros Gábor Cserna (Fidesz) welcomed the announcement and highlighted Hamburger Hungária’s social responsibility, development projects and outstanding sports sponsorship and healthcare contributions. “The company is regarded as a local patriot in Dunaújváros, not least because it employs local workers and offers a long-term career beginning with vocational training”, he added. Hamburger Hungária Ltd. is a member of the Prinzhorn Group, which has it headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
The parent company, which employs 7000 people, concluded a strategic partnership agreement with the Hungarian Government in 2014; it generates an annual turnover of 1.6 billion euros. Its three Hungarian subsidiaries, Hamburger Hungária Ltd, Duparec Ltd. and Dunapack Ltd., provide jobs to a total of 1120 people. According to publicly available company data, Hamburger Hungária Ltd. achieved 257.8 billion forints in turnover in 2016 and 285.6 billion in 2017, predominantly from exports. In 2016 and 2017, the company realised after tax profits of 67 billion forints and 39 billion forints, respectively.
(MTI)
