Szijjártó: Success stories expected in Hungary-Russia ties

Hungarian-Russian relations will soon be characterised by success stories, having been in a downswing for many long years, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with Sergey Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, in Moscow on Wednesday.

The two countries have agreed that from 2020, Hungary will import more than 4 billion cubic metres of gas from Russia, the minister said. A direct flight will be launched between Budapest and Kazan and a Hungarian-Russian consortium has signed a contract worth more than 1 billion euros on the delivery of 1,300 passenger carriages to Egypt, he added.

Hungary and Russia will also collaborate in establishing a central European oncology centre in Budapest, he said, adding that the International Investment Bank will also establish a centre in the Hungarian capital.

Szijjártó noted that these agreements were reached in his talks with three Russian ministers in recent days.

This week, Szijjártó also met Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Industry Minister Denis Manturov.

In response to a question, the minister noted that the main event of the Russian Energy Week conference in Moscow had been attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin along with the leaders of major western European energy companies such as Total, Enel and Shell. These companies are working with Russian energy giant Gazprom on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, he said.