Hungarian economy minister discusses Budapest-Belgrade railway upgrade in Beijing

Finance Minister Mihály Varga has met with leaders of the Export-Import Bank of China in Beijing to discuss upgrading the Budapest-Belgrade rail line, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.

China is financing 85 percent of the cost of upgrading the line, which will become part of a corridor for delivering of Chinese goods to Europe from the port of Piraeus in Greece.

Speaking in Beijing, Varga said preparation of the general contractor contracts is moving forward at a good pace and a decision on the Chinese-Hungarian consortium for the project is likely to be made by the end of April.

To achieve the goal of completing the project by 2023, the government wants to speed up hiring and licencing procedures, Varga said.

The Budapest-Belgrade rail line will complete the missing north-south links in central and eastern Europe, the finance ministry said in a statement. It is important that Chinese goods destined for Europe are delivered to the continent by rail from Piraeus, it said, adding that Hungary would miss out as a transport corridor without the upgrade.

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Source: MTI