“Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is to visit Budapest this spring, in addition to which the next session of the Hungarian-Russian Joint Economic Committee is also due to meet in the Hungarian capital on 22 June”, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told reporters in Novo-Ogaryovo just outside Moscow, following Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Szijjártó said that unfortunately political developments in Europe do not favour Hungarian-Russian trade cooperation, but despite this bilateral economic cooperation will soon enter a new dimension because “we will be significantly increasing the level of mutual investment”.
Concerning the details, the Minister said that Hungarian pharmaceutical company Richter had received the go-ahead to realise new investment projects in Russia.
With relation to Hungarian oil company MOL, which has so far invested some 100 million US Dollars in Russia, a new agreement has been signed allowing the company to search for new production and exploration fields in the Western Siberian and Volga-Ural regions, Mr. Szijjártó said.
Hungarian agricultural exports to Russia have fallen significantly as a result of EU sanctions, but “our agricultural technology and machinery exports are increasing dynamically”, the Minister told the press, pointing out that Hungarian agricultural technology projects including the construction of grain silos and food industry processing units is currently ongoing in five Russian counties.
Mr. Szijjártó also announced that a Hungarian enterprise had been given the opportunity to participate in the construction of the roofing for three football stadiums in preparation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
In closing, the Hungarian Foreign Minister informed reporters about a new agreement concerning the rail vehicle industry as a result of which significant Russian-Hungarian cooperation is expected to develop with relation to the manufacturing of rail vehicles for third country markets.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
