Audi Hungaria is expanding its tools plant in Gyor, north-west Hungary, investing 3.8 billion forints (EUR 10.5m), Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Tuesday.
The government is supporting the investment with a 1.2 billion forint grant, which is expected to preserve 700 jobs, the minister said.
Szijjártó praised Audi’s cooperation in the coronavirus protection effort, noting the company had helped in the inoculation of some 3,000 people so far and will take on a similar effort in the near future.
Szijjártó insisted that Hungary’s response to the pandemic in terms of protecting the economy and providing health care was “the most successful in Europe”.
German companies, which decided to use government support and invest in Hungary rather than laying off employees, had a great role in that success, he added.
German automotive companies alone make up 30 percent of Hungarian industrial output and employ 170,000 people, he added.
With all domestic players focusing on electro-mobility, Hungary hopes to strengthen its leading role in the industry “in the new era of car manufacturing”, he said.
Audi’s plant in Győr makes electric motors using technologies that are essential for economic renewal, he said.
Alfons Dintner, the head of Audi Hungaria’s board, thanked the government for its support and said the construction works to enlarge the manufacturing plant by 3,800sqm and the logistics plant by 2,500sqm would be ready by the summer of 2022.
Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade has signed deals in Switzerland concerning investment projects in Hungary worth a combined 14 billion forints (EUR 38.8m), expected to create 220 new jobs.
Péter Szijjártó said the three Swiss companies involved will expand their operations in Hungary as well as launching new projects “in three different industries and in three different cities”, according to a foreign ministry statement.
One company will expand its capacities for railway carriage production in Szolnok, and another is planning to increase its plant producing toothpaste tubes in Debrecen, while the third one will start making ceramic dental implants in Székesfehérvár, the statement quoted him as saying.
Switzerland is one of Hungary’s key political and business allies, Szijjártósaid, calling on the European Union to build even closer ties with Switzerland and form an institutionalised framework agreement with the country.
“The EU could clearly benefit from closer cooperation with such an economically strong country as Switzerland,” he said.
Concerning bilateral ties, Szijjártósaid that Swiss investors had a “very important role” in the Hungarian economy. There are nearly 900 Swiss companies in the country, employing 33,000 people, he added.
According to a new survey published by NÉBIH (Nemzeti Élelmiszerlánc-biztonsági Hivatal – National Food Chain Safety Office), approximately 70% of all products are of Hungarian origin. In comparison, the same figure was almost 80% six years ago.
According to Sokszínűvidék.24.hu, examining the product ranges of the ten largest grocery chains present in Hungary, the survey has found that, especially in the case of international companies, the share of Hungarian products has decreased; in the case of the most important categories, it is currently around 70%. Those selling fresh goods have managed to retain their positions, but in the case of items where there is a significant added value to speak of, such as different types of cheese and ham, yoghurts and jam, approximately 50% of shelf space is taken up by imported products. These are also the categories where the most considerable decrease has been recorded compared to the data from the previous survey.
Researchers recorded detailed information pertaining to almost 40 000 products, in 16 traditional categories, such as meat and dairy products, eggs and honey, which the Hungarian food industry would be able to produce enough of to provide the entire population of the country with high-quality foodstuffs.
NÉBIH officers also emphasised the advantages of locally produced groceries: they are safe, delicious, fresh, sustainable, and we can be sure where they come from.
The biggest drop in the proportion of home-produced goods was found when examining the shelves of international chains, like Penny Market, Tesco, and Lidl, each of which increased the amount of imported items by over 10% compared with Hungarian products.
If averaging all international store chains figures, there is a decrease of almost 9%, but even local stores sell 6% less Hungarian goods than six years ago. The only store to have demonstrated an increase in this field is Aldi, but even in their case, the difference is minimal, less than 1%.
If we were to rank grocery chains by the proportion of Hungarian products on their shelves, the first three places would be taken by three local stores: Reál (80.65%), Coop (80.17%) and CBA (76.95%), while Lidl would be at the bottom of the list (56.09%), followed by Tesco (66.07%) and Penny Market (67.58%).
Hungary aims to maintain the closest possible cooperation with the United Kingdom after Brexit, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a video on Facebook on Wednesday.
Szijjártó noted that a trade deal signed by the European Union and the UK, which has been observed since January, was expected to enter into force at the beginning of May.
Because of the free trade deal, the non-tariff barriers between the UK and the EU place extra costs and burdens on both British and EU-based businesses, Szijjártó said, adding that Hungary would do everything it could to ensure that Hungarian companies get the most out of the agreement.
The EU and the UK are also aiming to work out a new procedure that will make the new form of cooperation manageable, he said.
Countries that adapt to the new conditions the quickest can gain a competitive advantage, Szijjártó said. Hungary will therefore do all it can to ensure that its companies maintain and improve their positions on UK market, he added.
As part of the government’s national export protection scheme, Hungary’s Eximbank has opened a 590 million euro credit line to help finance Hungarian-British business cooperation. Companies are also expected to have access to 15 billion forints (EUR 40.8m) in EU funding from the bloc’s Brexit Adjustment Reserve, he said.
Concerning other challenges posed by Brexit, Szijjártó noted that
the EU has lost roughly one-eighth of its population and one-seventh of its economic output as a result of the UK’s departure.
The UK is also a member of the United Nations Security Council and the world’s sixth largest economy, he noted.
Brexit, he said, was “especially difficult for Hungary, because Hungary and the UK were allies on a number of political issues”.
The UK is Hungary’s 13th most important trading partner and the 6th largest investor in the country, with 900 British companies employing some 55,000 Hungarians, the minister said.
During the pandemic, five of those companies, rather than reduce their capacities, took advantage of the government’s investment support scheme and invested over a combined 5.5 billion euros in Hungary, Szijjártó said.
The coronavirus epidemic situation that erupted more than a year ago has completely upset our lives. This is most evident in the analysis of our shopping habits. Revenues in some areas have not fallen. There was a sector where there was growth, while the pandemic excessively wore out the fashion sector. As a result, four retail chains were closed down in Hungary.
Retail sales fell 0.2 per cent last year. In contrast, the food trade grew by 3 per cent. The impact of the epidemic also shows itself in altering shopping habits. The share of online sales has increased significantly, but it is still below the European average. As expected, the demand for premium foods decreased, partly due to price increases, writes 24.hu.
Interestingly, there has been an increase in demand for healthy food.
Another winner of the epidemic are electronics and IT. Traders closed a record year in this sector. Besides, the demand for DIY goods, home furnishing products, and fitness products also increased during last year’s pandemic period. On the other side of the scale are products like fuel, clothing and footwear stores. These sectors experienced a severe downturn in 2020.
The fashion sector is the third most affected sector after tourism and hospitality due to the coronavirus epidemic.
Accordingly, four store chains will definitely close in Hungary. These are Vagabond, Promod, Camaieu and Cosmos City, according to Euler Hermes.
An interesting question is what to expect in the future. Of course, it also depends a lot on how long the restrictions last. According to Tünde Bujdosó, director of Risk Management at Euler Hermes, retail savings increased during 2020. As a result, with the completion of the closures, retail sales may increase this year.
The epidemic will also have long-term effects. For example, local consumption patterns have changed, leading to a decline in larger retail chains. At the same time, local producers can expect an increase in their incomes. Stores and entrepreneurs need to be able to switch to online sales. In this case, the impact of the restrictions is not as drastic in terms of revenue either. In a bad situation are those who have not been able to respond and adapt appropriately to changed circumstances.
Hungary is benefiting significantly from its cooperation with Japan, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, on Tuesday.
Speaking to public media after the meeting in Japan, Szijjártó, who is the first foreign minister to visit the island country this year, said Hungarian-Japanese cooperation was based on mutual respect and friendship. “This is also true of economic cooperation,” he said. “Japanese businesses have trust in Hungary and the Hungarian people.”
Szijjártó said this trust was reflected in the fact that a total of 23 Japanese companies invested in their bases in Hungary last year with a view to avoiding layoffs.
The combined investments of 25 billion forints (EUR 68m) were supported by 9 billion forints in government grants and saved a total of 15,600 jobs, he said.
Suzuki’s plant in Esztergom, in northern Hungary, will be one of the bases to undergo major developments, Szijjártó said, adding that other auto industry players as well as the food sector were also set to see tens of billions of forints’ worth of investments by Japanese businesses over the coming months.
Meanwhile, the minister also highlighted Hungary and Japan‘s cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, noting that
Hungary has received millions of doses of medicines from Japan.
On another subject, Szijjártó said Hungary will take part in the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, adding that the Hungarian government has decided to open a consulate in the western Japanese city.
“We are really pushing for closer cooperation between the European Union and Japan, and for them to sign an investment protection agreement,”
Szijjártó said. He added that it was “even more important” for the East Asia Free Trade Area, of which Japan is a member, to enter into direct cooperation with the EU as quickly as possible.
Developments on an unprecedented scale are planned in Hungary’s food industry by the end of the decade, with a significant increase in funding to become available during the current European Union budget period compared with the previous one, the state secretary in charge of food chain supervision at the ministry of agriculture said in Monday’s daily Magyar Nemzet.
Norbert Erdős said that rural Hungary will have access to 4,500 billion forints (EUR 12.5bn) worth of funding between 2021 and 2027, with the highest available budget contribution of 80 percent by the Hungarian state.
A tender is expected to be published in the first half of this year already which will enable micro and small businesses in the food industry to apply mostly for purchasing equipment, he said.
The ministry has launched a series of online consultations with representatives in the sector in order to ensure that the tenders invited match demands, Erdős added.
Hungary’s food industry is expected to once again become a key player in international competition by the end of the 2027 budgetary period, he said, adding that
Hungarian producers would get every opportunity to catch up with the most developed European competitors.
Eight companies will receive 13 billion forints (EUR 36m) in state support to carry out investments worth 25 billion forints abroad, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Wednesday.
The government has launched its foreign markets economic growth scheme with the aim to help Hungarian companies set up production, research and service capacities abroad, Szijjártó told an event where the certificates were presented. The government has allocated 70 billion forints for the scheme, 157 companies have applied for funding and a total of 28 recipients have been announced so far, he added.
These companies will receive 42 billion forints for investments worth 80 billion forints, to be carried out mostly in the Western Balkans, he said.
In addition to the Western Balkans, investments will also be carried out in Austria and Singapore, he added.
Interesting coincidence?
One of the ‘winner’ companies was the MPP Magyarország Informatikai Szolgáltató Zrt. The company’s CEO is János Kóka who served the Socialist-Liberal Gyurcsány Government as Minister of Economy and Transport (2004-2007).
Budapest, Hungary. February 17, 2021. State secretary Levente Magyar and former Socialist-Liberal Minister János Kóka. Photo: MTI
As we wrote on Tuesday, a EUR 287m electronic road toll system to be built in Indonesia by Hungarian company Roatex will be Hungary’s biggest technology export so far, details HERE.
The European Commission projects Hungary’s GDP will grow b 4.0 percent this year in a winter economic forecast published on Thursday.
The projection is level with the one in the EC’s forecast released in November.
The EC modified its estimate for last year’s decline in Hungary’s GDP to 5.3 percent from 6.3 percent.
It said industry, construction and retail sales remained strong in October and November but the rebound was interrupted by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic which led to more restrictions.
The EC said the economic contraction was driven by plummeting investment and service exports. However, the assumed easing of restrictions could lead to a quick recovery from mid-2021, it added.
The commission projects a 5 percent growth rate for 2022, up by 0.5 percentage points from its autumn forecast.
RotaChrom Technologies, the developer of the world’s first industrial-scale Centrifugal Partition Chromatography (CPC) technology platform, announced today the launch of a collaboration with Cyclolab Cyclodextrin Research and Development Laboratory Ltd. (“Cyclolab”), a cyclodextrin research, development and manufacturing company. This strategic partnership between Cyclolab and RotaChrom aims to develop a more efficient and cost-effective process to purify Remdesivir, which is a widely used treatment option for COVID-19.
Remdesivir, an inhibitor of the viral RNA-dependent, RNA polymerase, is a direct-acting antiviral agent that is approved by the FDA as a treatment for patients with severe cases of COVID-19. It was originally developed to treat the Ebola virus, but research was also conducted on its effectiveness as a treatment for COVID-19 as a result of the pandemic. Once it was shown to be effective in clinical trials of hospitalized patients with severe symptoms, the agent was approved and is now being used in the United States, as well as other countries around the world. The formulations of Remdesivir contain 3 percent of the active ingredient and 97 percent of the cyclodextrin derivative that serves as an excipient.
The partnership will combine RotaChrom’s scalable CPC technology with Cyclolab’s knowledge and experience with cyclodextrins. The scalable system that will be utilized for this collaboration includes RotaChrom’s pilot-scale centrifugal partition chromatographic, known as the rCPC, that utilizes an innovative methodology of chromatography where separation occurs between two immiscible liquid phases, offering several advantages compared to more traditional methods. The result is a more purified compound of interest at a lower cost due to increased efficiency and automation.
“While the world anxiously waits for COVID-19 vaccines to be distributed, many are already infected and suffering from this terrible virus,” said RotaChrom CEO László Madarász. “By enhancing the production of a proven drug that has the ability to treat those who are already sick, we could potentially improve lives. We are proud to provide a solution by combining our company’s technologies with Cyclolab to create this much-needed strategic partnership.”
Cyclolab is a company with unparalleled expertise in the manufacturing, design and formulation of cyclodextrins. For this new collaboration, Cyclolab will provide its cyclodextrin-related analytical, formulation and chemistry expertise that spans back to the 1970s. In the three-staged collaboration that kicked off in early 2021, Cyclolab and RotaChrom aim to explore the potential synergies of the companies’ technologies and evaluate how a more economic purification alternative could be discovered.
“Cyclolab is a pioneer and a global leader in cyclodextrin science, and we are delighted to be working with RotaChrom, a unique company with state-of-the-art chromatography capabilities,”
said Tamás Sohajda, CEO of Cyclolab. “This strategic collaboration is a tremendous opportunity to create novel discoveries leading to significant added value through pharmaceutical therapies. While there are a handful of published examples on the marriage of these two techniques, no one has ever attempted to bring it to the industrial level. This is our goal now and what can be a better compound to start with than the one that is critically needed in millions of doses? If we could make even a small impact on better availability – either logistically or economically – we would consider it as a huge success and a beginning of a new era in preparative chromatography.”
Hungary’s interest lies in ensuring that its relations with the United Kingdom remain as strong as possible after Brexit, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with his British counterpart Dominic Raab on Tuesday.
Hungary is an ally to the UK on a number of issues, Szijjarto said in a video on Facebook. Britain is Hungary’s sixth most important investor with 900 British companies employing more than 55,000 Hungarians, the minister said. The UK is also Hungary’s 12th most important trading partner, he added.
British businesses, he said, had demonstrated their loyalty to Hungarian employees during the coronavirus pandemic, with five UK firms investing more than 5.5 million euros in Hungary last year. The government supported those investments with 2.7 million euros, he added.
Szijjártó said he and Raab had also discussed the situation around Covid-19 vaccines.
“We still believe it’s shameful that the European Union waited weeks and months to approve AstraZeneca’s vaccine,” the minister said. “Had the authorisation been granted sooner, we’d be further along in Hungary as well.”
Szijjártó noted that Hungary received a shipment of the AstraZeneca jab last Saturday, with the next batch scheduled to be delivered on Feb. 13, adding that the UK had the largest and most diverse stock of Covid vaccines.
Hungary is doing everything it can to ensure that its citizens can be inoculated as quickly as possible. Because Hungary has contracted vaccine doses from AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, China’s Sinopharm and Russia, the vaccination campaign can be speeded up significantly over the coming weeks, he said.
Szijjártó said he and Raab had also discussed support for persecuted Christians, which he said was an important goal for both governments.
Talks also touched on Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU set for the second half of 2024, during which Szijjártó said the country hopes to focus on the protection of national minorities, supporting families and interreligious dialogue.
Szijjártó said
Raab had assured him of the UK’s cooperation on those issues and promised to pay a visit to Hungary this year.
He noted that 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Hungary and the United Kingdom, which they intend to celebrate in a way that will be worthy of the occasion.
One and a half years ago, in July 2019, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, announced that Hungary was going to purchase its own seaport to encourage Hungarian export to be conducted in the country’s own prospective seaport. This means that Hungary would finally have a seaport again after over 100 years.
According to Index, in 2019, there were two possible locations for the port. At first, the government wanted to purchase a port in the Slovenian Koper, but due to the worsening political relations and the different views of the two countries, Hungary ended up planning a different location. This is when they decided to reimagine the idea and started to negotiate with the Italian Matteo Salvini. The relations of Hungary were strengthening with the then-Minister of the Interior due to similar worldviews. Péter Szijjártó and the Italian Minister of the Interior announced in a press conference in 2019 that they had signed the contract and
Hungary managed to purchase a 300-metre-long port with 32 hectares of land area for €31 million as part of a 60-year concession contract in Trieste.
Index also wrote that, for a long time, no progress has been made, as certain conditions for concluding the contract and conducting the sale have not been fully met. The most recent and probably most major step in the process was made back on December 17, 2020. We know this as Péter Szijjártó, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has confirmed the information to Hvg that on December 17, Aquila, the Italian company owning the concession, came under the full ownership of the Hungarian Adria Port, which the government founded just for this port project.
Cargo containers in Trieste
Source: adriaports.com
This moment concluded a 100-year period since the Treaty of Trianon during which Hungary had no seaport.
But, unfortunately, there is a catch. Although the port is now under Hungarian ownership as part of a concession contract, the port cannot conduct any ship traffic yet.
In order for the port to be able to receive ships and their cargo, the area must first be remediated, and a heritage protection procedure must be carried out, which can take up to a year.
Hungarian Seaport Development Concept
Source: adriaports.com
Moreover, the Hungarian government plans investment in the development of the infrastructure of the area for another €100 million. The government expects Hungarian corporations and enterprises to conduct their shipping from the seaport in Trieste which would help reach the markets of Africa and the Middle East easier.
The expected cargo traffic is 2 million tonnes every year, which is about 78,000 containers.
After conducting the purchase, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has raised the fund of Adria Port Zrt. from €1.8 million to €16.8 million. Incidentally, Adria Port Zrt. only has four registered employees, including its chief executive officer, whose salary has been raised from HUF 1.5 million (€4,100) to HUF 1.9 million (€5,200).
There was a nearly tenfold increase in the number of Chinese freight container trains arriving in Hungary through the Záhony transshipment station last year compared to 2019, daily Magyar Nemzet said on Monday.
Rail Cargo Operator Hungaria (RCO-HU) registered a steep increase in intermodal rail transport from the Far East since August 2020, Imre Kovács, Rail Cargo Hungaria board chairman and Rail Cargo Austria board member, told the paper.
Six to eight trains carrying 45-50 containers arrived monthly from China to the European Union border at Záhony in the third and fourth quarters of 2020 as against a total of four intermodal trains in 2019, the paper said.
Compared to the first half of 2020, the number of containers transported as rail freight between China and Europe increased by 41.7 percent.
A station in Malaszewicze on the Polish-Belarus border can hardly cope with receiving some two-hundred Chinese container trains monthly and the development of Záhony is expected to resolve the issue of handling further increase in traffic.
Kovács said Rail Cargo Hungaria expects a significant increase in traffic based on these developments and the fact that the EU announced 2021 as the European Year of Rail gives further reason for optimism.
The construction of the largest and most modern railway intermodal combi terminal in Europe has begun at the gates of the European Union in Fényeslitke (Hungary), near the Hungarian-Ukrainian border. The East-West Gate (EWG) will be the continent’s first land-based intermodal combi terminal based on green technology using its own 5G network. The theoretical capacity of the terminal is 1 million TEU per year. Built at one of the strategic points in the economic corridor of the Belt and Road Initiative, the EWG can play a key role in delivering goods between Asia and Europe on an alternative route, faster and in larger quantities than before.
On the EU side of the border of the European Union and Ukraine, in Fényeslitke, the construction of the largest and most modern intermodal combi terminal based on track change has started on 125 hectares – the construction of the substructure of the terminal and the normal railway connection are currently in progress.
Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the EWG intermodal terminal, as the western gateway to the New Silk Road, offers a faster alternative route to Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Germany for freight traffic from Asia than the current land and maritime routes.
The EWG, which is being built at the meeting point of the Russian wide-gauge and the European narrow-gauge railways in Hungary, is also a new, high-capacity opportunity for the export traffic to Asia from Western Europe.
In addition, it may also have an important role in the better utilization of the Trans-Siberian Railway Network which has undergone significant improvements in the recent years.
The trial operation of the facility is scheduled to begin in January 2022, while its final handover is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.
The EUR 61 million investment is financed entirely from private sources. The Hungarian Government has provided EUR 8.2 million to EWG as job creation subsidy.
There will be built 5 wide-gauge and 5 narrow-gauge, 850 m long craneable tracks at the EWG terminal, therefore it will be possible to serve four 740 m long trains at the same time.
EWG is the first land-based intermodal combi terminal on the continent which will use its own 5G network for internal communication and operation of its technology devices.
The facility will be powered by green technology, in line with the EU’s rail and climate strategy. A high-performance solar park as well as a heat pump system will provide power, and only electric terminal tractors and e-cars will be used in the terminal area.
Photo: East-West Gate (EWG)
In addition to its fast and efficient loading technology compared to similar terminals in Poland and Belarus, and its free areas for further development, the EWG will have the significant advantage of handling ATEX- and ADR-certified 45-tonne cranes with dangerous goods and special handling materials – such as gas tank containers and chemicals – can also be transshipped, furthermore the terminal is also suitable for craning conventional public road semi-trailers onto rail wagons. The theoretical capacity of EWG with the forthcoming Hungarian railway line developments (the railway line “V0” bypassing Budapest) will be 1 million TEU per year. At the time of handover, the container and combi capacity will be 300-500 thousand TEU units.
The terminal will provide a full range of logistics services and when the operations starts, it will offer customers 15,000 square meters of leasable warehouse space. On the available unbuilt areas, an additional 500,000 square meters of warehouse, assembly or production plant can be established if required.
Hungary posted a trade surplus of 811 million euros in November, a first reading of data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Monday shows.
Annualised exports rose for the third month in a row, while imports increased for the first time since the start of the pandemic, KSH said.
Exports climbed 6.9 percent to 10.140 billion euros and imports rose by 1.9 percent to 9.329 billion euros.
Trade with other European Union member states accounted for 78 percent of exports and 70 percent of imports.
For the period January-November, exports fell by 5.5 percent to 95.951 billion euros and imports dropped 6.9 percent to 90.581 billion euros. The trade surplus reached 5.370 billion euros.
As we wrote last week, Hungary’s three-month rolling average jobless rate was 4.4 percent in Sept-Nov, rising 0.9 of a percentage point from twelve months earlier, details HERE.
Nomen est omen – the name is destiny, the name is a prediction. Tibor Novák founded and named his company Nobilis based on this Latin proverb in 1992, and he has been loyal to it ever since.
“Choosing a name was rather easy. Nobilis means someone with a good reputation, honest, noble. We lived our last 28 years based on these values” – says the owner whose company has its headquarters in Mátészalka but his products can be found on market shelves all over the world.
Tibor was born in the county of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg and as he said in an interview with portfolio.hu“if you look out the window you see plum, sour cherry, apple and walnut trees. I asked the question, what could you do with all this? How could I supply the world’s most high-standard markets with these fruits?” So he went on creating a big range of dried fruits and oil-seeds converted into complete desserts.
They utilise the newest and most modern equipment and methods during all phases of production in order to preserve the excellent quality of these delicious fruits before they can be consumed.
Tibor Novák adds that they always chose the most challenging way, the one everyone said was simply impossible. Ever since he started his business, they always took part in big expositions of the food industry to see their competitors and new trends and present themselves and their knowledge. It proved to be a successful effort as
today Nobilis products can be found in many countries from Brazil to Japan, including the United States.
The company is an authentic, family-owned business. They pay special attention to developing children products, so the manager’s own grandchildren also participate in the process. Without exception, every new idea has to be tested and tasted by the little ones whose feedback is taken into consideration and involved in the modification process.
A variety of chocolate-coated almonds – Facebook/NobilisZrt.
Their most popular dessert – apple circles, covered in dark chocolate – is a creation of the owner’s daughter, Éva Novák, who came up with the idea and perfectioned it. She is in charge of innovation, while her sister, Mariann, works in the marketing and commerce of the company. Even their mother helps out the business. Employees of their factory in Mátészalka are all considered family members and the owner is very proud that they technically never face any fluctuation in terms of employees. It is a principle for him that it is better to move slowly as a business then leave anyone behind, meaning that when the 2008 economic crisis and now the coronavirus hit the whole world, they always aimed for keeping all job positions.
Based on their motto, they always aim for the efficiency of the work put into production, and the investment put into the process; for the excellent quality of their products that always have to hit all international qualifications; for innovation and harmony. This last part is an essential element of their business as they want all employees to enjoy the work. He believes that
“the mood of our employees is packed into every bag of our products. We seek harmony with society and the environment so that our presence would be constructive in this world”.
Tradition plays a vital role in their lives. For almost 30 years they have been working with the same suppliers. Novák believes that mutual respect is the basis of this profitable partnership.
On the other hand, innovation and development are constant factors always to create something new. They now are in contact with universities and laboratories to work together with professionals on preserving the best and healthiest elements of fruits to provide consumers with the highest quality products.
If you would like to know more about Hungarian family-owned businesses, you should check out this list.
With the government having suspended the night curfew for Christmas Eve, Hungarians have “stormed shops” and could end up spending as much during the holidays as last year, the daily Magyar Nemzet said on Wednesday.
Holiday shopping in Hungary typically picks up in the days leading up to Dec. 24, György Vámos, the chief secretary of national retailers association OKSZ, told the paper.
However, the government’s decision to soften restrictions for Christmas Eve, when Hungarians traditionally open their gifts, has now also encouraged spending, he said.
Vámos said it was possible that holiday spending in Hungary could even reach 2019 levels.
Though Hungarians appeared to be cutting back on their holiday spending in the period leading up to Christmas, retail trade was gaining momentum, Vámos said.
Shops in Hungary close at 7pm on Dec. 23 and at 2pm on Dec. 24 before reopening on Dec. 27, he noted.
Gablini Automotive Group serves Budapest as LEVC expands into new market. Dealer site will provide full sales and after sales support for LEVC’s TX taxi, TX Shuttle, and new VN5 van. LEVC’s EU-wide network will cover 21 markets by the end of 2020
LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) today announces its entrance into the Hungarian market with the appointment of its first dealer, Gablini Automotive Group. Located in the capital city of Budapest, the dealer group will provide full sales and after sales support for LEVC’s TX taxi and TX Shuttle and, from Spring 2021, the brand’s new electric van, VN5.
Joerg Hofmann, LEVC CEO, commented:
“Hungary has a clear e-mobility vision, with a number of incentives schemes in place to encourage operators to make the switch to zero emissions vehicles. In partnership with the Gablini Automotive Group, I look forward to establishing our brand and products in this progressive market.”
LEVC’s unique eCity technology offers numerous benefits for electric vehicle drivers in Hungary. The ‘green license plate’ in the country allows owners of EVs to save money with car tax exemption or rebates, reduction of VAT, personal income tax relief as well as subsidised loans. Electric vehicles can park for free in the Budapest region, and in other major cities.
Photo: LEVC
Gábor Gablini, owner of Gablini Automotive Group, said:
“Gablini Automotive Group is excited to represent LEVC in Hungary. LEVC is known for its premium quality electric vehicles, while innovation and caring for a sustainable future is one of the cornerstones of Gablini Automotive Group. We are the first company in Hungary to start selling modern electric vehicles. We think that there is a demand for range extender LCV and taxi vehicles in Hungary, where the premium quality of the interior is a decisive factor. That is why we think that LEVC’s new, innovative products fit perfectly into our portfolio.”
LEVC, based in Coventry, UK has been manufacturing the official London black cab for more than 100 years and reinvented the iconic taxi as an electric zero emissions capable TX in 2018.Since launch, more than 4,500 units have sold worldwide, and its green credentials have prevented more than 36,000 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere and saved 21 million litres of fuel from use.
Photo: LEVC
TX shuttle shares the same DNA as the TX electric taxi and is powered by the same eCity technology, a zero emissions capable taxi with a flexible range of over 316 miles (510 km) and a pure EV range of 63 miles (101 km). All TX Shuttles are purpose-built to keep all occupants safe and protected. Features include up to six passenger seats, wheelchair accessibility, a secure partition screen that separates the driver and passenger compartment, contactless payment in the rear, easy to clean surfaces and an intercom system that allows driver and passenger to always communicate clearly.
LEVC’s new electric van, VN5, is already on sale in the UK and will be launched in Europe from Spring 2021.
Photo: LEVC
Operating in the one-tonne sector, VN5 shares the same bold, distinctive design and lightweight aluminium construction as TX, as well as its innovative eCity electric technology. VN5 can achieve a pure EV range of over 60 miles (98 km) and a total flexible range of over 300 miles (489 km) and, with up to 5.5m capacity, VN5 cargo capacity easily accommodates two Euro sized pallets with a gross payload of 830kg.
Photo: LEVC
LEVC’s global network will cover 21 markets by the end of 2021 and across Continental Europe, more than 30 sales and service partners will be in place by the end of this year.
