Speaking at the inauguration of a MOL complex in Tiszaújváros, in north-eastern Hungary, on Tuesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán pledged to introduce the most developed industries to Hungary.
PM Orbán said the country’s electricity demand would increase by 50% by 2030 due to the new industries. “We will have Eastern and Western car plants, technologies and production capacities to store green energy, we will participate in space research and link Hungary to the [international] bloodstream of the most modern information technologies,” the prime minister said. In addition, Hungary has ambitions to build the most modern defence industry in Europe, and develop its food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries to a higher level, he said. PM Orbán said the government’s industrial policies would ensure that the industry was supplied with sufficient energy and a well-trained labor force. Concerning the Tiszaújváros plant, he said value-added jobs were being created, “providing a secure, predictable future for 300 people”. Hungary is in the process of diversifying its energy resources. Hungary will import gas from Qatar, buy green energy from Azerbaijan, and increase its solar energy capacities, while the upgrade of the Paks power plant is underway, he added.
The prime minister added that a crucial component of the Hungarian government’s industrial strategy is to provide incentives to Hungarian businesses entering foreign markets. Currently, 12,000 Hungarian companies are active abroad or make products for export, he said. The government’s industrial strategy “is a good one”, Orbán said, adding that MOL had an important role. “Just like MOL, the industrial strategy is ambitious … but with both feet on the ground,” he said. MOL, PM Orbán said, “has taken the same path as the Hungarian economy, having a single focus 20 years ago, trading in crude oil; now it is spreading in the region, it has a biogas and diesel plant, it has entered the haulier market and it has become a crucial player in waste management.” The company’s new polyol plant will produce the “Swiss knife of plastics manufacturing”, good for the automotive industry, furniture production, the construction sector and textile manufacturing, he noted. The prime minister noted that MOL already had two plants in Tiszaújváros, built with support from Japanese investors, while the new polyol plant had taken over technology from Germany’s Thyssenkrupp. “MOL is Hungary’s largest and most successful company … when they build something … it is built solid,” Orbán added.