Foreign affairs and trade minister: MOL to undertake EUR 902m expansion at North-East Hungary plant

Hungarian oil and gas company MOL will undertake a 280 billion forint (EUR 902.2m) expansion of its petrochemical complex in Tiszaújváros, in northern Hungary, the foreign affairs and trade minister announced on Thursday.

The government is awarding MOL an 11.7 billion forint grant for the investment, Péter Szijjártó told a press conference.

In addition, the company can benefit from corporate tax breaks,

the minister said, noting that the European Commission had cleared 131 million euros in Hungarian state aid to the project.

The project promotes local development without restricting fair market competition, Szijjártó said, citing the EC’s Wednesday decision.

In addition to investments by multinational corporations,

Hungary needs competitive, nationally-controlled companies to achieve reliable growth, he said.

Szijjártó said the government grant to support the investment was the largest ever to be given to a Hungarian company. Not only will the project strengthen MOL as a regional leader but the new plant will make use of cutting-edge technology, he said.

MOL chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernádi said the investment would directly create 200 long-term jobs and thousands more indirectly.

featured image: https://www.facebook.com/mymolo

Source: MTI