The Government has already granted the City of Sopron almost HUF 5 billion from the some HUF 60 billion which has been allocated for the developments of the city as part of the Modern Cities Programme, Nándor Csepreghy highlighted in Sopron, at the foundation stone laying ceremony for the refurbishment of the historical city centre on Wednesday.

The Minister of State at the Prime Minister’s Office stressed that from the respect of the economy, in addition to the development of Budapest, the development of provincial Hungary which was unfairly abandoned before 1990 is equally important. There is a need for one or two central cities in each county to become strong enough in order to create job opportunities and growth potential for the region and to provide services to 21st century standards.

Tamás Fodor, Mayor of the city (Fidesz-KDNP) said that, from among the developments of the Modern Cities Programme, the first one is the construction of a sixty-kilometre section of the M85 express road between Csorna and Sopron, while the second one is the refurbishment of the historical town centre which is the venue of the present foundation stone laying ceremony. As part of this, the paving of the roads and pavements will be replaced, the water infrastructure will be refurbished, and floodlighting will be installed to highlight the most important spaces and statues. The implementation of the project will cost some HUF 1.5 billion. The works began at the end of February, and will be completed in September 2018 as expected. There has been no major renovation project here since the nineteen-seventies, he mentioned.

Mátyás Firtl, Member of Parliament for Sopron and environs (Fidesz-KDNP) highlighted that a development on an historic scale is being implemented in Sopron, in the medieval centre of the city with Hungary’s second largest monument complex.

In answer to a journalist’s question, Mr Fodor pointed out, among others: the refurbishment of the outdoor bathing complex and the indoor swimming pool will begin this year, and they will also begin the implementation of the development of the National Conference Centre, the Museum Quarter and the Lake Fertő water complex.

Mr Csepreghy said regarding the changes made to the schedule of the construction of the M85 that the plans for the planning permission have been completed, and the public procurement procedure may be launched before the end of this year. A section of some 60 kilometres may be completed during this development cycle; the necessary fiscal resources are available for the purpose, he said.

(MTI)