Hungary is reliable partner in Europe : President Vladimir Putin

Moscow : Russia and Hungry has agreed to enhance cooperation in Nuclear Technology ,Trade and Culture . Prime Minister of Hungary who is on official visit of Russia,held talks with President Vladimir Putin and sign different MoUs.

In a joint press conference ; President of Russia Vladimir Putin welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister and said that today we had very substantive and constructive talks as part of the Prime Minister’s working visit. We discussed topical issues on the bilateral and international agendas and outlined long-term cooperation plans.

I would like to stress that Hungary is Russia’s important and reliable partner in Europe. We are interested in further expanding Russian-Hungarian relations in all areas.

This primarily concerns developing mutually beneficial trade and economic links. Last year, bilateral trade increased by 25 percent to exceed $5 billion.

I would like to note that Russian companies have upgraded trains for the Budapest Metro and, in cooperation with Hungarian companies, plan to supply railway cars to third markets.

At the same time, a wide range of medical products are produced in Russia under a Hungarian brand, including innovative medicines.

Russia provides Hungary with over 75 percent of its oil and 60 percent of its gas. Russian natural gas goes to Europe through Hungary. Underground storage tanks on Hungarian territory make it possible to reliably supply European customers without fail even during peak demand.

There are good opportunities for Russian-Hungarian cooperation in the nuclear power industry. Rosatom will soon start building two new units at the Paks nuclear power plant.

Incidentally, this power plant generates 40 percent of Hungary’s electricity. This is a serious figure. Building additional capacity will double the electricity output and meet the requirements of the Hungarian economy for years to come.

We continue developing our humanitarian relations. In September, we endorsed a bilateral programme of cooperation in culture for 2018–2020. We are working on an intergovernmental agreement on the reciprocal recognition of education, qualifications and scientific degrees.

We told Mr Orban about the latest developments in the Syrian settlement, emphasizing the importance of Syria’s socio-economic recovery.

In general, the talks were held in a businesslike and constructive atmosphere and were very useful. I would like to thank the Prime Minister and all of our Hungarian colleagues for our work today.

Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban said that this his first official meeting since the election in Russia , In recent years, we have become reliable partners for each other.

I can tell you that all of the agreements that we have concluded in recent years have been implemented.

Reliability is a very important currency in modern world politics, therefore we highly appreciate our relations with Russia. And although we belong to different military alliances, we are interested in maximising our joint success.

Hungary has multiple interests. We have learned lessons from history over the past 100 years. When there was tension between Western and Eastern Europe, things were always bad for the Hungarians. And when the West and the East cooperated, things were good for Hungary. So Hungary is interested in the best possible cooperation between these two parts of the world.

As for energy issues, we have reached an agreement on gas supplies for 2020 as well. As Mr President said, it is no secret that Hungary wants the gas pipeline that is going to be built from the south towards Hungary to further cross the country. That would open excellent opportunities for Hungary.

I consider financial cooperation very important. Mr President has already mentioned OTP bank. I would like to add that the Hungarian bank employs 5,000 people in Russia.

We will take one more step because I have asked Mr President to expand our financial cooperation.

Being the third largest shareholder in the International Investment Bank, Hungary is ready to house the headquarters, to move it to Budapest. I ask Mr President to convey to the bank management that they should consider this.

I would like to inform the Hungarians that I suggested to Mr President that we launch a new flight between Budapest and Kazan.

Mutual recognition of diplomas of academic degrees is an important issue. This means that we are not only establishing cooperation for the moment, but investing in the younger generation and planning to maintain long-term, respectful and reliable cooperation between our countries, which will benefit Hungary and eventually Europe.