BUDAPEST: Further expansion of trade relations, helping Hungarian companies enter the market and European Union sanctions against Russia were in the focus of talks between Economy Minister Mihály Varga and US Coordinator for Sanctions Policy Daniel Fried here the other day.
Fried was accompanied by US Ambassador Colleen Bell at the meeting, the ministry said in a statement. Varga said the US is one of Hungary’s most important economic partners and the eighth most important foreign investor in Hungary.
Exports to the US increased by 10 percent last year, US companies employed more than 90,000 Hungarians and 10 new US investment projects were carried out in Hungary last year, the statement said. As a result of the EU sanctions against Russia, Hungary lost some 4.5 billion dollars of export opportunities in two years, especially in the machine and food industries, Varga said at the meeting.
Lifting the EU sanctions will be possible only if Russia meets its obligations resulting from the Minsk agreement and the EU needs to assess in the coming months whether the punitive measures have brought the desired effect, he added.
