trade

2021 had been the best year in Hungary-Russia cooperation, says foreign minister

lavrov szijjártó

The Hungarian government aims to further strengthen a recent “wave of dialogue between Western allies and Russia” to ease tension, the foreign ministry quoted Péter Szijjártó as saying in Moscow on Tuesday.

The foreign minister had talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, after which he noted the recent emergence of “extremely serious tension” in central and eastern Europe, which he said was sharply against Hungary’s national security interests.

Dialogue is the only way to ease that tension “using all diplomatic means”, Szijjártó said.

“We have come to Moscow to support that dialogue,” he added.

Szijjártó called recent talks between the West and Russia “good news”, noting two conversations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron over the past few days, and a planned call between Lavrov and US counterpart Antony Blinken later on Tuesday. He added that another call between Putin and British PM Boris Johnson was being negotiated, while a British ministerial delegation could soon visit Moscow.

Szijjártó said

2021 had been the “best year” in Hungary-Russia cooperation and the current talks “have made it clear that Russia is ready to continue, as it benefits both sides”.

At their talks, Szijjártó and Lavrov adopted an action plan concerning cooperation in food production, energy, space research and health, Szijjártó said.

“Last year the cooperation between Hungary and Russia greatly contributed to good responses to health and energy crises in the world, and that cooperation will continue to serve Hungary’s interests in future,”

he added.

As we wrote today, PM Orbán meets with President Putin in Moscow, read details HERE.

hungarian defence forces
Read alsoOrbán cabinet: There is no need for a 1,000-strong NATO contingent to be stationed in Hungary

Minister: Hungary will continue to block Ukraine’s NATO accession!

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Hungary will continue to promote its national interests in foreign policy, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said at an annual parliamentary hearing on Tuesday.
 
By consistently implementing its foreign policy strategy over the past year, Hungary has been able to protect the health of the Hungarian people, relaunch its economy quickly, counter the pressure posed by migration and secure energy supplies, Szijjártó told before the foreign affairs committee.
 
He said the effects of the coronavirus pandemic had upset the global economic and political status quo and created serious health, economic, energy supply and migration problems for the European Union over the past two years. “These problems have led to serious debates,” he said, adding that
 
Hungary “would continue to participate in those debates in future and seek to enforce its national interests”.
 
Speaking about migration, Szijjártó said the EU faced “unprecedented pressure” simultaneously from three directions. He noted that just this year, Hungary alone has stopped 110,000 migrants at its southern border. The minister stressed the need to support the African countries’ efforts to keep their residents in their home countries instead of promoting their migration to Europe. “Hungary has done its share,” Szijjártó said, noting Hungarian water management development projects in the continent, a donation of 1.5 million doses of vaccines and the implementation of 60 projects in the framework of the government’s Hungary Helps humanitarian aid programme.
 
 
As regards energy policy, Szijjártó said Hungary “was not willing to make a political-ideological question” out of its gas supplies. He noted the agreement
 
Hungary concluded with Russia’s Gazprom which ensures gas supplies to the country from the west and the south.
 
 Speaking about trade, Szijjártó said the policy of opening to the East “had worked”, noting that 2021 will be the
 
third consecutive year when most foreign investments have been made by eastern investors, to the tune of 4.5 billion euros so far.
 
Zsolt Németh, the head of the committee, called the renewal of the minority ministerial committee an important achievement of Hungary’s Council of Europe presidency. Szijjártó responded as saying that “the door was slammed on national minorities in Brussels, so we had to open another one”.
 
Asked about Hungary’s relations with Ukraine by Attila Mesterházy, the committee’s deputy head for the opposition Socialists, Szijjártó said that bilateral relations had improved with almost all of Hungary’s neighbours. Ukraine, however, was another case, he said, citing continued violations of the rights of ethnic Hungarians. “Hungary for this reason
 
continues to block ministerial level talks between NATO and Ukraine,”
 
he said, suggesting that there might be a similar measure in talks with the EU, if there is no progress.

    Asked about relations with Romania by Barna Pal Zsigmond, of ruling Fidesz, Szijjarto said the government would seek cooperation with the neighbouring country’s new government.
Ukraine-dance
Read alsoMinister: Hungary ‘generous’ in its support of Ukraine

Hungary, Russia, Austria to ship Chinese goods to Europe together

Hungary-China-railway-cargo-Russia
Hungarian-owned CER Cargo Holding SE, Russian-owned RZDL Europe Kft and the Hungarian unit of Austria’s Rail Cargo Group, Rail Cargo Hungaria Zrt, signed a memorandum of understanding on setting up a joint venture to bring cargo between China and Europe in Budapest on Tuesday.
 
Administrative and operative preparations for the establishment of the JV are underway and it is expected to start operation in the first half of 2022. The JV will focus on bringing imports from China to Europe and exports to markets in Asia.
 
Speaking at the signing, Finance Minister Mihály Varga said a cargo hub being established in Záhony, on Hungary’s eastern border, is of
 
“strategic importance” for Europe as a bridge between countries in the East and the European Union.
 
The Záhony cargo hub, together with an upgrade of the rail line connecting Budapest and Belgrade, will make Hungary a “key player” in the flow of trade of goods between East and West, he added.
 
 
Innovation and Technology Minister László Palkovics said railway developments will be prioritised in the coming years, adding that emissions reductions targets cannot be met without a well-functioning railway network. He said a “significant increase” in
 
trade of goods between Europe and Asia was expected in the coming years and pointed to changes to delivery networks during the pandemic as well as the “standout importance” of cargo trains.
 
Russian Deputy Minister of Transport Vladimir Tokarev acknowledged the working group’s efforts in the cooperation over the past two years and noted the importance of developing rail cargo between Europe and Asia.
railway frankfurt high speed
Read alsoHigh-speed railway between Budapest and Warsaw to cut travel time from 12 to 5 hours

Lawmakers passed an amendment to the law regulating supermarkets in Hungary

store shopping food tesco hungary

Lawmakers on Tuesday passed an amendment to the law regulating supermarkets which requires the retailers, from February next year, to offer food to the needy within 48 hours of its sell-by date.

The amendment passed with 138 votes in favour and 1 against.

The law applies to grocery chains whose annual net revenue exceeds 100 billion forints (EUR 272.5m).

Supermarkets will have the option of donating the food to a new state-owned nonprofit, the Food Rescue Centre, or directly to charity organisations.

They will also be required to draw up a plan to reduce their food waste and appoint a manager in charge of saving food.

Grocery chains that fail to submit their plan to the Food Rescue Centre or exceed their annual planned food waste by over 2 percent can be fined.

The law’s justification cites data from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicating that around one-third of food produced for human consumption is wasted globally. According to a European Union study,

more than 5 percent of that food is wasted through retail and wholesale.

The amendment enters into effect on Feb. 1, 2022.

State-owned Hungarian cargo plane starts shipping service with China

Hungarian Cargo Plane Thereszállító Repülőgép Resized

The cargo plane Hungary’s government purchased after the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic started commercial operation on Saturday, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said.

Operated by Hungarian carrier Wizz Air, the Airbus A330-200F will shuttle between China and Hungary three times a week, Szijjártó said.

The government bought the plane at a time when delivering medical supplies was extremely difficult, he said. The plane was used to transport masks, protective gear and ventilators, as well as 6.8 million doses of vaccine this year alone, he said.

As pandemic-related demand ebbs, the plane will facilitate trade between Budapest and Chengdu, in eastern China, he said.

read also: New international airport to be developed near Pécs?

Szijjártó highlighted, that the “Hungarian government has never had any state-owned, wide-bodied cargo plane with Hungarian insignia and such large carrying capacity participating in scheduled traffic, but now it has one”.

The demand for this is clearly shown by the fact that according to the new contract, the plane will deliver approximately ten tonnes of cargo to China and will ship roughly fifty tonnes of cargo, mainly consisting of electronics and car parts, back to Hungary.

Szijjártó also added that this versatile shipping opportunity creates a competitive advantage for Hungarian companies.

Gedeon Richter
Read alsoHungarian pharmaceutical Richter to conquer the USA with new product!

Hungary has trade deficit for fourth month in a row in October

Hungary, an export-driven economy where trade surpluses are the norm, had a trade deficit for the fourth month in a row in October, a first reading of data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Thursday shows.
 
Exports edged up 0.9 percent year-on-year to 10.368 billion euors, while imports climbed 14.4 percent to 10.703 billion euros to give Hungary a trade deficit of 335 million euros. In a month-on-month comparison, KSH noted that exports were flat and imports
 
increased by 1.9 percent.
 
Trade with other European Union member states accounted for about 75 percent of Hungary’s exports and 71 percent of imports in October.
 
For the period January-October, exports increased by 13.9 percent to 98.200 billion euros and imports rose by 17.7 percent to 95.954 billion euros. The trade surplus came to 2.247 billion euros.
 
Takarékbank chief analyst Gergely Suppán said the fresh data show the impact on exports of the shortage of chips and other parts, supply chain interruptions and delivery bottlenecks.
 
The trade surplus could narrow to 2 billion euros this year from 5.62 billion euros in 2020, hit as well by worsening terms of trade and higher energy and commodities prices,
 
he added.
 
ING Bank senior analyst Péter Virovácz said the trade balance is unlikely to improve in the coming months as household spending and corporate investments continue to boost imports. An improvement could come from the second half of 2022, as long as global supply chain problems are resolved, he added.
Trieste Italy
Read alsoHungary to develop a port in Triest, Italy

How to shop cheaply with a wholesale trading platform?

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Sponsored content

Wholesale trading platforms online can often provide businesses with a quick, straightforward and affordable way of getting the products they need. And, with the ability to skim through different websites with ease, it shouldn’t take you too long to find what you’re looking for. With so many different wholesalers comes competition – and with this comes the opportunity to get fantastic, competitive prices that you can trust.

If you’re hoping to take advantage of this but don’t know where to start, don’t worry too much, as we’ve got all the information you need to select a great seller who you’ll be able to build a worthwhile, long-term working relationship with (if that’s what you’re looking for).

Tips for getting low prices with a wholesale provider

  • Ordering in bulk may not be something that everyone is keen to do, but it can often be a good way to save yourself some money on your purchases. If you have the cash to invest, it could be worth looking into your options for large bulk orders and how much money they could save
  • Remember that most wholesalers will value your business, even if you’re just starting out, since most retailers start small and build up to become more frequent customers. Some suppliers will put in a little effort to get to know you and it can be worthwhile to do the same
  • Investing the time into shopping around and considering different companies can be essential and often, you’ll find that there are plenty of great options out there just waiting to be found

How do you get the best products for the best price?

One of the most important tips from earlier is shopping around, since it really can make a difference in a variety of ways. For example, if you’re interested in purchasing video-game related products, you might want to take a look at some of the items available at https://merkandi.com/categories/video-games-consoles/49.

For the most part, the same goes for anything else you might want – there will often be an option to search through and buy almost anything you need on this wholesale marketplace; in most cases, you’ll just need to find it.

The supplier you buy from is often one of the most important considerations when looking into a range of sellers. Reliable shipping, location, worthwhile return policies and good customer service are all essential aspects that you should keep in mind while trying to find the right wholesale platform for your needs.

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Why use a wholesale marketplace?

If you want to find a broad number of options for great prices, https://merkandi.com/ could be the perfect place to visit. As a marketplace for wholesale traders, you’ll have access to a variety of sellers and deals all in one place – as well as access to a well-designed website that has been created with you in mind, making it even easier to shop around for the best deal. Having a portal where you can connect with the right wholesaler can make a huge difference in how successful your endeavours will be.

Economy’s ‘dimensional shift’ further accelerated despite pandemic, says FM Szijjártó

The Hungarian economy’s “dimensional shift” further accelerated in the past year and a half despite the coronavirus pandemic, with an increasing number of international research and development investment projects being implemented in Hungary, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday.

Szijjártó attended an event where Linde Gáz Magyarország announced plans to set up a digital research and development hub in Budapest which aims to develop solutions to enable sustainable and profitable operations in processing plants, the ministry said. The 5 billion forint (EUR 14m) project will receive 970 million forints in state support and the German-owned company will initially offer 25 jobs to graduates, it added.

Szijjártó said that 2020 and to a certain extent even 2021 have been years that brought global economic activity to a halt.

The government’s task was to avoid this and enable Hungary to be among the winners of the new era of the global economy, he added.

One of the reasons for success was that the government agreed with large international companies on the expansion of their capacities, especially in research and development, he said. As a result, the “dimensional shift” of the economy has not slowed down but picked up pace, he added.

Research and development spending totalled 770 billion forints in Hungary last year, some 10 percent more than in 2019, Szijjártó said. More than three-quarters of this was represented by corporate spending, which shows that the private sector trusts the Hungarian investment environment, he added.

He cited assessments showing that

Hungary’s was the 34th most innovative economy in the world and said that the government wanted to make further progress in this area, also relying on international corporations to act as partners.

Linde Gáz Magyarország was set up in 1992 and the company currently has ten branches and nearly a hundred sales partners in Hungary. It is involved in the special storage and transport of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, playing a highlighted role in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

Factory-China-investment
Read alsoHungary is a primary target for Chinese investments in Central Europe!

Cornerstone laying of Belgrade-Budapest railway section held in Serbia

cornerstone laying of Belgrade-Budapest railway section

Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs, attended the cornerstone laying ceremony for the Novi Sad-Kelebia section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Novi Sad (Újvidék), in northern Serbia, on Monday.

Addressing the event, the minister said that those arguing against the construction of the high-speed railway and establishing a transport route between the Greek ports and western Europe want to deprive Hungary and Serbia of their competitive edge.

The opponents of the project want to play into the hands of other countries and act against Serbia and Hungary’s national interests, he said.

Szijjártó noted that 2020 had been the first year when China’s trade with both the European Union and the United States exceeded the EU-US turnover.

“More and more Chinese commodities arrive in the Greek ports and need to be transported to central and western Europe. There is a sharp competition for providing a transit route for them,”

he said.

“Serbia and Hungary have entered the race by deciding to construct a modern and safe railway line.”

By 2025 both the Hungarian and the Serbian sections of the over-300-kilometre line will have been completed, enabling the two countries to win the race, Szijjártó said.

The project is financed by China, Serbia and Hungary.

The cornerstone for the Budapest-Belgrade railway line upgrade was laid in  Hungary too, details.

Factory-China-investment
Read alsoHungary is a primary target for Chinese investments in Central Europe!

Hungary to develop a port in Triest, Italy

Trieste Italy
Italy-Hungary trade increased by an annual 32 percent so far this year and it is expected to hit a record high by the end of the year, making Italy Hungary’s sixth largest trade partner, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday.
 
Szijjártó met Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio and reviewed bilateral relations in Strasbourg on the occasion of Italy taking over from Hungary the presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers.

Szijjártó said on Facebook that Italian companies had shown loyalty to Hungary during the pandemic, with 28 Italian companies
 
investing 12 billion forints (EUR 33m), creating 3,400 jobs.
 
“A Hungarian investment project is under way in Italy, where the development of an area purchased by Hungary in the port of Triest is under way, which as soon as it is completed will offer considerable help to Hungarian companies in speeding up export transportation,” he said.
 
 
 
The two countries maintain close military cooperation, with a Hungarian commander and his Italian deputy working together in the coming year at the NATO Kosovo mission, he added.
 
Europe is “under unprecedented migratory pressure” which is “directly felt by the Italians as well as by us”, he said.
 
“Even if we think differently about the mandatory settlement quotas, we certainly agree that migrants setting out towards Europe should be stopped as far from us as possible,” he said. “The protection of maritime borders and land borders are equally important, and countries that protect external borders should receive support instead of lectures from Brussels,” he added.
wizz air
Read also14 new routes and significant frequency increases at Budapest Airport!

Consumer prices in Hungary: vehicle fuel prices jumped by 30.7 percent – UPDATE

traffic Budapest Hungary ferenciek

Consumer prices in Hungary rose by an annual 6.5 percent in October, up from 5.5 percent in the previous month, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Tuesday.

Driven by higher cigarette, spirits and vehicle fuel prices, CPI is at the highest level in years and well outside of the 2-4 percent tolerance band of the National Bank of Hungary (NBH).

The October data show spirits and tobacco prices rose by 11.3 percent, lifted by a 17.6 percent increase in tobacco prices.

Prices in the category of goods that includes vehicle fuel climbed 13.0 percent as vehicle fuel prices jumped by 30.7 percent.

Food prices increased by 5.2 percent, household energy prices edged up 0.6 percent, consumer durable prices rose by 5.4 percent, clothing prices increased by 0.9 percent, and services rose by 3.7 percent.

Harmonised for better comparison with other European Union member states,

CPI stood at 6.6 percent.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, was 4.7 percent.

CPI calculated with a basket of goods and services used by pensioners stood at 5.7 percent.

In a monthly analysis released after the publication of the KSH data, the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) said the rise in inflation in October was “primarily fueled by an increase in fuel, industrial goods and food prices”. It noted that fuel prices contributed 1.9 percentage points to headline inflation.

The NBH’s measure of core inflation excluding indirect tax effects – a bellwether indicator of underlying inflation – rose to 4.7 percent in October from 4 percent in the previous month.

The central bank’s indicator for demand-sensitive inflation, which excludes processed foods from core inflation, increased to 4.7 percent from 4.1 percent.

The NBH said the indicators measuring households’ inflation expectations “showed unusually high volatility” but were “unchanged relative to the previous month”. It added that their value is above the central bank’s tolerance band.

At a monthly policy meeting in October, National Bank of Hungary (NBH) rate-setters ditched the baseline scenario in the central bank’s quarterly Inflation Report, published in September, agreeing that the inflation path had shifted to a risk scenario assuming a “persistently elevated external inflation environment”.

The policymakers said

inflation “would remain elevated over a longer period” and that achieving the inflation target “may be delayed” compared to the projection in the September Inflation Report, the minutes from the meeting showed.

Analysts told MTI that inflation surprised on the upside. Gergely Suppán of Takarékbank noted

inflation was largely fuelled by higher food and durable goods prices.

Péter Virovácz of ING Bank said the low base was not the sole explanation for the stand-out figure as CPI rose by 1.1 percent on a monthly basis. In addition to the rise in fuel prices, he said food, services and consumer durables all had a big part to play in the outsized inflation data.

Gábor Regős of Századvég Gazdaságkutató said the big rise in fuel prices pushed up inflation, but given the development of world oil prices, this was to be expected. But food and services caught expectations off guard, though higher energy prices due to Europe’s energy shortage may be reflected in the prices of various products, he added.

Pollution-environment-climate change
Read alsoHungary ranked among TOP countries for reducing carbon emission

Hungary-Poland business forum was held in Budapest

Central Europe could become one of the biggest winners of the new global economy thanks to stability, sensible economic policies and security policies focusing on national interests, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday.

Szijjártó told a Hungary-Poland business forum that relations between the two countries could be best described as being fraternal, a statement by the ministry said.

“We must not tolerate being scorned and handled in Europe as pure beneficiaries of cooperation any longer,” he said. Hungarian and Polish people equally contribute with their work to the generation of community resources, he added.

Central Europe has greatly benefitted from pursuing “policies based on common sense” and the region has consequently become one of the most attractive targets for investment in recent years, Szijjártó said. He noted low taxes on labour, which he said the Hungarian government planned to further reduce, and efforts to guarantee people’s safety.

If the Visegrad Group’s four members were to form a state, it would be the second largest country and the third largest market in the European Union, Szijjártó said. He noted that

Germany’s trade with the V4 was twice as much as with France last year.

At the same time, the region still needs to overcome certain disadvantages in competitiveness. A high-speed rail network must be built and road transport further improved with the help of joint efforts, he added. The integration of the Western Balkans would greatly strengthen competitiveness even further, Szijjártó said.

In terms of Hungary-Poland economic ties, Szijjártó said Poland was Hungary’s fourth most important trading partner last year, with the value of trade exceeding 10 billion euros.

This accounted for some 5 percent of Hungary’s total foreign trade. In the first eight months of this year, bilateral trade increased by 22 percent to 8 billion euros and its value is expected to be record high for the whole of 2021, he said.

There are no open issues between the governments in Budapest and Warsaw, and there is consent in the most important European issues, Szijjártó said, noting the protection of national sovereignty and the concept of a strong EU based on strong nation states.

He also discussed the topic of energy crisis, stating that central European states shared the same view in terms of recognising nuclear energy as a sustainable energy source. Vertical transport routes for gas supplies will soon be completed for the region allowing Hungary access to LNG terminals in Poland, Szijjártó added.

Read alsoPM Orbán in talks with Salvini, Morawiecki on new EU political group

Auchan, Penny and Tesco to be sold to Hungarians?

tesco hungary lake balaton

After the French Auchan announced that a Hungarian businessman, Dániel Jellinek, will buy the minority share of its Hungarian network, rumours about major buyouts started spreading.

G7 did some research and found out that three chains in total are stirring up interest, namely Auchan, Tesco and Penny Market. According to the portal,  Penny Market has an estimated value of HUF 65-85 billion (EUR 182,653,185 – 238,854,165), Tesco is worth 270-350 billion (EUR  758,713,230 – 983,517,150), while Auchan supposedly has a value of 100-130 billion (EUR 281,004,900 – 365,306,370 ), but other theories about its market value conclude that the real value might be a bit lower, at a sum of 70 – 100 billion (EUR 196,703,430 –  281,004,900 ).

However, there is an issue with the rumours and the alleged plans to buy shared in these companies: Tesco and Penny do not plan to sell their shares.

Furthermore, based on their influence on the Hungarian market, buying one of them would not make a major difference. If the plan is to have more influential Hungarian chains, buying Tesco on its own would be enough, but Penny and Auchan have to be bought in order to make a change at the Hungarian market together.

G7 also mentioned that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed in 2016 what the government’s plans were. He said that there are four areas where domestic capital needs to grow above international. These are media, banks, energy and retail network. Last December, government commissioner János Lázár said outright that foreign retail chains should be pushed out of the country with an “openly protectionist policy”.

Three sectors were acquired, but the retail network seems more difficult. In 2020 food retail had traffic of HUF 4,600 billion (EUR 12,926,225,400 ), but ideally, people should have spent 2,300 billion (EUR 6,463,112,700) at stores owned by Hungarians.

The business ventures of Dániel Jellinek and the Hungarian government might be familiar from our former article, in which we wrote about the businessman close to NER, who tried to buy Budapest Airport with no success. Then the government offered to buy the airport and even tried to use tactics to force the airport into selling shares. As Daily News Hungary wrote, the airport owners “no longer rule out the possibility of selling BA, but seek a higher price”.

The Hungarian economy has been an interesting topic lately. Many innovations are taking place in the country, and Hungary took 34th place on Global Innovation Index.

Hungary takes 34th place on Global Innovation Index
Hungary to be among top third European innovators by 2030?

The average Hungarian works for 1,100 EUR

hungary worker

Retail sales in Hungary rose by an annual 2.5 percent in July, or 3.0 percent when adjusted for calendar year effects, preliminary data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Friday show.

The increase slowed from 6.2 percent in the previous month. Retail sales have risen for four consecutive months after eight months of decline, KSH said. Adjusted food sales increased by 3.7 percent and non-food sales were up by 2.6 percent. Vehicle fuel sales rose by 1.9 percent.

For the period January-July, retail sales rose by an annual 2.1 percent according to both unadjusted and calendar-year adjusted data. Adjusted food sales were up 1.8 percent, non-food sales rose by 3.0 percent and vehicle fuel sales increased by 2.8 percent.

Commenting on the data, a government official said the Hungarian retail sector is starting to recover from pandemic-related lockdowns. Péter Cseresnyés, a state secretary of the innovation and technology ministry, said that government measures resulting in 4.7 million jobholders,

wages averaging above 400,000 forints (EUR 1,100)

and higher minimum wages left money with Hungarians to spend on themselves. Barring another strong wave of the pandemic, the current moderate growth is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, he said. Growing vaccine acceptance is key to that process too, he added.

ING Bank chief analyst Péter Virovácz said the modest rise in retail sales could be attributed to households’ preference to spend on services during the summer months. ING is standing by its

projection for full-year GDP growth of 7.7 percent,

he added.

Takarekbank senior analyst Gergely Suppán also said consumers likely spent more on recreation during the month, but added that “dynamic” wage growth and a growth-linked year-end pensioners premium could boost retail turnover. He put full-year retail sales growth around 3 percent.

hungary worker
Read alsoThe average Hungarian works for 1,100 EUR

How much money will Hungary’s richest amass by 2022?

weather heat alert

The poorest people’s situation improved, the middle class did not particularly get wealthier, and the wealthiest amassed more wealth. People close to NER (National Cooperation System) certainly have advantages. But how much richer will Hungarians become in the next year?

“The amount of money stored on accounts under 100 million forints (EUR 286,428) increased by 130 per cent in 3 years until 2020, while the number of accounts decreased by almost 10 per cent. “ – István Karagich told Telex.

An analysis by Blochamps concluded that 8-9 per cent of private banking customers hold over 40 per cent of total domestic private banking assets, and Hungary may have up to 7,000 billionaires by 2025. Apart from today’s dollar billion pair (Sándor Csányi and Lőrinc Mészáros), there may be five new dollar billionaires in the future.

Covid took a toll on the rich as well, and the top 100 entrepreneurs’ total wealth dropped from 4633 billion forints (EUR 13,270,213,873) to 4568 billion. Although, 2021 may be a good year in terms of growth.

The number of the very rich is not growing, but their wealth is. Those who are already wealthy see a 10-20 per cent growth in their finances annually. Businesspeople related to politics have advantages, while others only keep their money and status.

István Karagich also told Telex that according to their prognosis, “the total assets managed by private banks will increase by almost 2,000 billion forints (EUR 5,728,562) to 8,000 billion (EUR 22,914,248) by 2022, and the financial portfolio of the richest entrepreneurs will expand to over 6,100 billion. (EUR 17,472,114,100)”

Another important aspect of this is that at the beginning of 2017, domestic private banks managed 3,860 billion forints (EUR 11,056,124,660) , but by the first half of 2021, this amount had increased to 7,000 billion (EUR 20,049,967,000), resulting in an 80 per cent increase.

 According to the Forbes list, in 2020, the richest Hungarian was Lőrinc Mészáros, businessman and publicly known friend of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. His wealth is an outstanding sum of 479,4 billion forints (more than EUR 13,719,905,990).

Second on the list is Sándor Csányi, who owns 393.4 billion forints. Next in the line is Tibor Veres, with an estimated 258.6 billion (above EUR 7,389,844,980) net worth. On the list, we can also find László Szíjj, known as the owner of the most successful domestic road construction company, Duna Aszfalt Kft. According to Index, with his company, he earned 20 million forints (EUR 57,285) per day. István Garancsi got himself a place on the list as well. He acquired the late Andy Vajna’s most valuable company and now owns Budapest’s gambling market, among other business ventures. Vajna’s widow earned a spot on the Forbes list as well. Besides her, there is only one woman on the list, Mária Schmidt, in the 42nd place. Lajos Simicska is also on the list. One interesting fact about him is that he was a great friend of the Hungarian prime minister until a few years ago. Gábor Bojár is at the 49th place on the list, with a net worth of 28.6 billion forints (above EUR 80,199,868).

The 50th place on the list is a true mystery.

“Last year, a temporary court order forced the recall of Forbes magazine because a family complained that they were on the list of the richest Hungarians.” – writes Forbes. The incident was so unusual that even Associated Press, other American newspapers and European publications wrote about the case.

Foreign minister urges construction of new border crossings with Croatia

hungary croatia

Hungary and Croatia rely strongly on each other and cherish their mutually beneficial cooperation, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday, after meeting his Croatian counterpart, Gordan Grlic-Radman, in Budapest.

“Both countries are firmly rooted in the original European values, which we could also call Christian values. This was probably the reason why Croatia did not join the smear campaign against Hungary after it passed its child protection law,” Szijjártó said, referring to claims that the Hungarian law was discriminating against the LGBTQ community.

“The European affairs ministers of several countries have initiated a joint document calling for Hungary to allow NGOs into Hungarian schools and kindergartens to engage in sexual propaganda there.

Croatia did not join that initiative, for which we are grateful,” Szijjártó said.

Regarding energy cooperation, Szijjártó said Hungary has a vested interest in the liquid natural gas terminal planned on the Isle of Krk. The terminal would allow Hungary to diversify its supply sources, which is a primary goal in energy security, he said. This was the first gas purchase agreement Hungary could conclude with other partners than the Russian Federation, he said. The new route is planned to supply 1.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Hungary annually in the next four years, and one billion cubic meters in the following three years each, he said.

Linking the two countries’ gas markets would keep prices down and help supply security, Szijjártó said. The next step could be a trilateral cooperation between Croatia, Hungary and Ukraine, to recover some of the transit capacity Hungary is losing because Russia’s Gazprom is transitioning to a southern route from its origingal supply line through Ukraine, he said.

Szijjártó also urged the construction of new border crossings, noting that currently, Hungary and Croatia had one crossing every 50 kms on average.

Hungary is bringing its M6 motorway to the border by 2024, has started to build a bridge across the Mura at Murakeresztur, and is planning two further crossings, he said.

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Hungary calls for speeding up Serbia’s EU integration

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The European Union cannot be strong without enlargement and “there is no enlargement without Serbia”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said, after meeting Serbian EU integration minister Jadranka Joksimovic in Budapest, on Wednesday.

The coronavirus pandemic has “turned our lives upside down” and sharpened the debate on the EU’s future, Szijjártó told a press conference.

The integration of the Western Balkans is key to a strong EU, he said. Serbia is one of the most important players in the region and must be involved in the EU’s further enlargement, Szijjártó added.

European integration is imperative to maintaining “peace and quiet” in the region, he said.

“We ask our Western friends with great respect to stop blocking the enlargement process. Of course, their answer is that they are doing no such thing. That is true as far as words go, but when it comes to deeds, positive decisions somehow never come,” Szijjártó said.

Empty promises point to an “unacceptable” lack of respect, he said.

Serbia is ready to open 11 chapters of the accession procedure, and has Hungary’s support for launching it, he said.

The Western Balkans will play an even greater role in the aftermath of the “total failure in Afghanistan”, Szijjártó said. The withdrawal of troops means a great risk of migration for Europe as migrants can reach Turkey “basically without difficulty, and the region [of the EU] is only one step further from there.”

Hungary continues to support the protection of Serbia’s southern border with a twenty-strong unit, he said.

Hungary and Serbia are also launching a joint Western Balkans capacity development programme, with Hungary opening a Szechenyi Programme office in Belgrade, he said. Talks are ongoing about Serbia joining the International Investment Bank, an international bank headquartered in Budapest, he said.

Answering a question about Hungary’s evacuation mission in Afghanistan, Szijjarto said the operation is “coming to an end”, but said that the end of the mission will be announced by the commander of the Hungarian Armed Forces. Hungary has evacuated some 500 people so far, he said. Besides Hungarians, Hungary also helped locals and their families who worked with the Hungarian mission in Afghanistan. It also complied with US and Russian requests of cooperation, he said.

Hungary does not wish to participate in the redistribution of refugees in any other way, he said.

Joksimovic and the Croatian EU foreign minister, Gordan Grlic-Radman, addressed the annual assembly of Hungarian ambassadors earlier in the day.

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Foreign minister: Good cooperation with Russia in Hungary’s interest

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Close, mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia is in Hungary’s interest, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with Sergei Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, in Budapest on Tuesday, adding that “our friends and allies hold the same position but they will not speak about it so openly”.

Bilateral cooperation with Russia has produced “practical and pragmatic” results, “despite a not too supportive international environment”, Szijjártó said.

The minister pointed to the “extraordinary health and economic challenges” of recent months as well as the “humanitarian and security impacts of clearly ill-advised geopolitical decisions” and called for switching to “civilised international cooperation based on mutual respect”.

All through history “Hungary has always been better off when there was civilised cooperation beetween East and West rather than conflict”, he said.

Szijjártó said Hungary had “benefitted a lot” from its good relations with Russia in recent times, and cited joint Covid vaccination efforts as an example. He said that Hungary would not have been in a position to complete “Europe’s most successful vaccination drive” without the Russian Sputnik vaccine. He added that talks on producing Sputnik in Debrecen from the end of next year were “in an advanced stage”.

Szijjártó mentioned mutual investments as further areas of cooperation, the production of railway carriages for Egypt, as well as energy security. He also said that Hungary’s WizzAir would set up a base in Saint Petersburg, increase the number of flights between Budapest and Moscow from a weekly four to seven, and launch a new service between Budapest and Yekaterinburg.

Concerning energy, he said that an agreement on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline “has made clear that Russia will continue to be crucial for Europe’s gas supplies in future”.

Conclusion of the agreement between Western countries and Russia shows a mutually beneficial energy cooperation between the parties, and “it would not be fair to threaten (sanctions) against central or south-eastern European countries for modernising their national networks and building an alternative supply route”, he said. The Hungarian government considers the matter from a strategic point of view, he added. “There is no national sovereignty without energy security, therefore we must put our own interests first,” he said.

On another subject, Szijjártó said that the Afghanistan situation posed a “clear and serious migration threat”. People leaving Afghanistan could easily reach Turkey from which the Western Balkans would be “just a step, and Hungary’s southern border another”. Hungary is ready to stop migrants at its borders but “we had better do it further away”, he said.

Answering a question on Ukraine, Szijjártó voiced the Hungarian government’s commitment to supporting that country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, but said that curbing the rights of ethnic minorities was “unacceptable”. He added that incidents against the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia were continuous.

Hungary is and will stay a member of the European Union, and has an interest in a strong union, Szijjártó said, adding that the EU could only be successful if it was based on strong nation states.

He insisted, however, that “some” were working to weaken member states and added that Hungary would “take a firm position” in those debates.

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