“Unilever Hungary Limited will be expanding its household chemical goods production facility in Nyírbátor with an investment of 15 billion forints (EUR 42 million)”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced at a press conference in Budapest on Thursday.

Mr. Szijjártó emphasised that there is a greater need than ever before for the production of the Nyírbátor plant during the current epidemic. “As a regional production centre, Hungary also supplies other countries in the region, and as a result the goods Unilever produces in Hungary are reaching 20 million consumers”, he explained.

The Minister said he regards it as an indication of confidence in the Hungarian economy that four major investments have been made in Hungary over jsut the past two weeks. “In addition to expanding the plant, Unilever has also undertaken to provide a truckload of disinfectant to assist the work of Szent László Hospital during the pandemic. This also indicates that the company not only regards Hungary as a production location, but also as home”, he added.

Referring to the economic effects of the epidemic, the Minister also welcomed the fact that 30 new jobs will also be created at the Nyírbátor plant, which currently employs 300 people. “Replacing lost workplaces will be one of the decisive keys to rebooting the economy, and this is why new investments realised during the time of the coronavirus epidemic are particularly important”, the Minister stated. He explained that in his evaluation it is thanks to both this and the economic policy of the last ten years that the Hungarian economy will be able to enter the international competition, that has been totally transformed as a result of the virus epidemic, from a favourable position. “Today, everyone around the world is talking about difficulties, but Hungarian economic strategy, which is built on job creation, continues to be successful even in the current situation”, Mr. Szijjártó added.

At the event, Miklós Simon, the region’s Member of Parliament (Fidesz), highlighted Unilever’s social responsibility. “Unilever’s plant in Nyírbátor was already donating significant quantities of its products to local schools, hospitals and social institutions prior to the epidemic”, he explained. “Today, there is as great a need for disinfectant as there is for new workplaces created by investments”, the MP added.

Factory Director Viktor Buss said with relation to the investment that the capacity expansion is expected to be completed by the first half of 2021 at the latest. In the first phase, an 11 thousand square metre production hall will be constructed in Nyírbátor with 2 production lines for the production of hygiene products and liquid detergents, following which the plant will be expanded to include an 8 thousand square metre warehouse, which will increase the plant’s annual production performance from 300 million bottles to 370 million. Two thirds of the product made here are sold abroad, the Factory Director added.

Managing Director of Unilever Hungary Ltd. Alberto di Leo said the Nyírbátor plant is the most important of the company’s Hungarian production units, and called Hungary the company’s outstandingly important partner. “Unilever has already invested hundreds of millions of euros here”, he said, adding that Szent László Hospital will be receiving the donation of disinfectant products next week.

British-Dutch company Unilever, which was founded in 1930, has its headquarters in London and Rotterdam. The company sells foods, soft drinks, detergents, toiletries and cosmetics products in 190 countries. It employs some 170 thousand people worldwide. Unilever’s Budapest office operates as the company’s Central European headquarters. In addition to Nyírbátor, Unilever Hungary also operates plants in Veszprém and Röszke, employing a total of some 1500 thousand people. Unilever achieved a net turnover of almost 100 billion forints (EUR 280 million) in 2017, increasing to over 107 billion forints (EUR 300 million) in 2018. During this period, the company’s after-tax profits increased from 2.5 billion forints (EUR 7 million) to 3.9 billion forints (EUR 11 million), according to publicly available company data.

(MTI)