HungaryTrends – The week in business and finance

See below MTI’s main business and financial news from the previous week:

INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT UP 8.8 PC IN MAY

Hungary’s industrial output rose by an annual 8.8 percent in May, a preliminary release of data by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) showed. The increase followed a 3 percent decline in April.

BUDGET DEFICIT REACHES 78 PC OF FULL-YEAR TARGET IN JUNE

Hungary’s cash flow-based budget, excluding local councils, ran a 911.2 billion forint deficit at the end of June, the economy ministry said on Thursday. The shortfall was 78.12 percent of the 1,166.4 billion forint full-year target. The ministry blamed the gap on pre-financing for EU-funded projects and the award of home construction subsidies. Read more HERE.

HUNGARY COULD ACCESS RUSSIAN GAS FROM NEW PIPELINE BY END-2019

Hungary could access deliveries of Russian gas from the south through a new pipeline by the end of 2019, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign affairs and trade minister, said after a meeting with Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller in Moscow. The pipeline, with capacity to deliver 8 billion cubic metres of gas a year, would enter Hungary from the Serbia, he added. Gazprom said Miller and Szijjártó discussed “gas supplies to and gas storage in Hungary, as well as gas transit to third countries”.

V4+EGPYT SUMMIT TARGETS IMPROVED ECONOMIC TIES

As we wrote before, ways to foster economic ties between Egypt and Central and Eastern Europe were a focus of talks at a summit between government leaders of the Visegrad Group — Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia — and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Budapest. Terrorism and illegal migration were another topic discussed at the summit, the first Visegrad Group event Hungary has hosted since taking over the rotating V4 presidency at the start of July.

ZF GROUP STARTS BUILDING EUR 100 M PLANT IN HUNGARY

German-owned transmission maker ZF Hungaria laid the cornerstone of a 100 million euro plant in Eger (NE Hungary). The 40,000 sqm plant will be completed in the summer of next year and employ 770 people to make eight-speed automatic transmissions.

WABERER’S SHARES FLOAT ON BUDAPEST BOURSE

Shares of Hungarian road haulage company Waberer’s International were floated on the Budapest Stock Exchange after an IPO. Waberer’s is using the proceeds from the offering to fund the 32 million euro acquisition of Polish peer Link.

INSTANT NOODLE MAKER NISSIN INAUGURATES EUR 33 M EXPANSION IN HUNGARY

Japanese instant noodle maker Nissin inaugurated a 33 million euro plant at its base in Kecskemét, south of Budapest. The investment created 200 jobs.

QUALITY POULTRY INAUGURATES HUF 2.8 BN KOSHER SLAUGHTERHOUSE

Poultry processor Quality Poultry inaugurated a 2.8 billion forint (EUR 9m) kosher slaughterhouse in Csengele (SE Hungary). The company financed the investment with a 1.75 billion forint loan from Magyar Eximbank.

ORBÁN WELCOMES COMPETITIVE IMPACT US LNG DELIVERIES WOULD HAVE

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán welcomed the effect on competition deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States would have on Europe’s energy market in a weekly interview on public radio. Commenting on US President Donald Trump’s pitch of American LNG as an alternative energy source to leaders from the region in Warsaw on Thursday, Orbán acknowledged the rivalry such LNG deliveries would create with gas supplied from Russia. “Both [sources of energy] are available to us. We’re buyers. I learnt in school that competition is good. If there’s competition, the buyer gets the goods for cheaper. So let those who can sell gas in Europe compete for our money. We’ll buy the cheapest,” Orbán said on Kossuth Radio.

LOT TO LAUNCH DIRECT BUDAPEST-NEW YORK, -CHICAGO FLIGHTS

As we wrote before, Polish airline LOT will launch direct flights from Budapest to New York and Chicago next summer, chairman-CEO Rafal Milczarski announced. LOT will use a Boeing 787 Dreamliner based in Budapest for the flights.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI