ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 23. Kazakhstan covers nearly 10 percent of Hungary's oil usage, Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, said at the UN SPECA Economic Forum in Baku, Trend reports.
In 2022, Hungary purchased 500,000 tons of oil from Kazakhstan, which amounted to about 8 percent of consumption in Hungary, and this year the supplies volume is close to 700,000 tons. Thus, imports of oil from Kazakhstan increased by 40 percent.
Szijjarto also mentioned the potential of Kazakhstan in production of natural gas and green energy. He noted that Hungary, benefiting significantly from East-West investments, supports strengthening Central Asia's role in connectivity and energy security.
Hungarian FM stressed the necessity of building a secure transit route between Europe and China, underscoring Central Asia's vital role in this endeavor.
Kazakh PM Alikhan Smailov said earlier in November that in total, about $330 million of direct Hungarian investments have been invested in Kazakhstan since 2005. About $75 million was invested in 2021-2022 alone, which is almost a quarter of the total.
For the first eight months of 2023, trade volume climbed by 24.4 percent to $124.2 million (compared to $99.8 million in the same period in 2022).
Today, 42 Hungarian companies (including the oil and gas business MOL and the pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter) and 56 joint ventures operate in Kazakhstan.
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