BUDAPEST: Hungary and Russia will form closer cooperation in heavy industry developments in technology-intensive sectors, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday in Budapest after meeting with Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov.
Hungarian and Russian companies are encouraged to participate jointly in tenders in third countries, Szijjártó said. The minister noted a partnership between Hungarian and Russian companies to bid for a carriage contract from Egyptʼs state railways. A decision has not yet been taken on the order, thus an offer by Magyar Eximbank to finance the purchase has been extended, he added. Earlier, Szijjártó said the carriage order was worth EUR 600-700 million.
Szijjártó said on Thursday that the sides had agreed on continuing Hungaryʼs and Russiaʼs cooperation in the area of space research. He also noted the success of Hungarian farm technology investments in Russia and spoke about incentives for the construction of Hungarian water management systems in the country.
The minister mentioned a EUR 20 mln investment last year in Hungarian steelmaker Dunaferr and said capital expenditures this year would top that amount. Fielding a question, Szijjártó said sanctions against Russia had failed, politically and economically, and had hurt not just Russia but Europe.
“The best thing to do would be to lift the sanctions,” he said. Because of the sanctions, Hungary has written off USD 6.7 bln in exports to Russia over the past three years, Szijjártó said, an amount he said the government wants to make up in the long term.
