“MOL will be constructing a rubber bitumen production plant in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan with an investment of thirteen million dollars”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Monday in Budapest after receiving Deputy Prime Minister of Tatarstan Albert Karimov.

“The preparative work is underway, the chemical laboratory research is producing good results, and the government is currently in negotiation with MOL with relation to the level of state funding that the Cabinet will be able to provide towards the investment”, Hungary’s chief diplomat told the press. He also reported on the fact that the procedure developed by MOL, which significantly improves the efficiency of crude oil extraction and is outstandingly competitive on the international market, will be applied at the world’s seventh largest oil field found in the Russian Republic. “The economic, trade and energy cooperation realised with Russia in the spirit of Hungary’s Eastern Opening policy plays an important role in the successful realisation of Hungarian foreign economic endeavours”, Mr. Szijjártó declared.

He highlighted that the Republic of Tatarstan is one of the Russian Federation’s richest, most rapidly developing and most successful republics, and extracts 40 million tons of crude oil each year. “The Republic’s crude oil stocks exceed 1.3 billion tons”, Mr. Szijjártó told the press, emphasising: “Tatarstan plays an important role with relation to the energy supply of all of Europe”. The Foreign Minister said the two countries have a special relationship, pointing out that Hungary is the only member state of the European Union to operate a foreign representation in the Republic of Tatarstan. “The country’s capital, Kazan, is directly accessible by air from Budapest, and there are a host of cooperative programs ongoing between the two countries’ universities”, he listed.

According to Mr. Szijjártó, the Republic of Tatarstan is Hungary’s sixth most important trade partner and the Hungarian party’s second most important Russian partner following Moscow and its vicinity. Bilateral trade flow between the two parties exceeded half a billion dollars last year.

Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about the fact that a new global economic system is coming about as a result of the coronavirus epidemic: “Large companies that are now becoming regional multinational companies are receiving a huge opportunity, and the winning countries will be those that are able to react quickly on large international markets, and that have competitive enterprises with a regional reach”. “For this reason, MOL’s international and reginal expansion is extremely important to the Hungarian government”, he emphasised.

Praising bilateral relations between the two countries, Albert Karimov spoke about the fact that in 2019, trade flow increased by 15 percent compared to 2018, and welcomed the “even closer relations” between MOL and Tatar oil company Tatneft. He reported on the fact that he and his Hungarian negotiating partner had discussed the opportunities inherent in automotive and machine production, the manufacturing of gas-operated vehicles, and the Hungarian enterprises that wish to invest in the region. The agreement was concluded by MOL’s Executive Vice President for Group Innovative Businesses and Services Oszkár Világi, and CEO of Tatneft Zrt. Nail Maganov.

According to information provided to Hungarian news agency MTI by MOL, the company has been present in Russia within the field of hydrocarbon exploration and extraction since 2003.  The jointly constructed rubber bitumen plant will be using the technology developed by MOL. The new plant will contribute to enabling an increasing number of roads in the Republic of Tatarstan to be covered in high-quality rubber bitumen tarmac that can withstand extreme weather and has a long lifespan. “MOL’s enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process is particularly suitable for increasing the production of high temperature and/or salt content oil fields. As a result, it extends the lifespan of oil fields that are approaching exhaustion, enabling the continued extraction of oil using the existing infrastructure”, the company added. “According to the agreement, this innovative technology will be applied at the Romanshinskoye oil field on the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan”, MOL’s statement reads.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade / MTI)