Ahead of a meeting to discuss trade relations between Hungary and the Republic of Tatarstan with the Russian region’s prime minister in Kazan, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said in a Facebook video that bilateral trade turnover came to 300 million US dollars last year, adding that the bilateral trade volume is already up 70 percent this year.
According to MTI, the minister said the Republic of Tatarstan is Hungary’s second most important trading partner within Russia and one of the main investment destinations of Hungarian oil and gas company MOL. The minister said demand in Tatarstan is also high for Hungarian pharmaceutical products, adding that Hungary’s livestock exports to the region have doubled in the recent period. Minister Szijjártó noted that MOL and its local partner Tatneft recently began construction of a rubber bitumen plant. The government is supporting the HUF 4 billion (EUR 11.1m) project with a HUF 2 billion grant, he said. MOL has also begun stepping up its activities in the chemical industry with a view to strengthening its international position in the new era of the global economy, Minister Szijjártó said, adding that Tatarstan was a crucial market for the company. MOL and Tatneft are working on multiple joint projects involving high value-added and high technological chemical solutions aimed at speeding up and boosting the efficiency of oil extraction, he added.