OTP Bank has been in talks with the Uzbek government since the end of 2020 about the possibility of participating in the privatization of the country's banking system.Continue reading
From August 20, a direct flight connects Hungary and Uzbekistan, and from September there will be two flights a week between Budapest and Tashkent, three from January, and four from 2025, announced Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, reports Világgazdaság.
At a joint press conference with Uzbek Minister of Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov, the minister said that following successful preparatory work, the first flight of the Qanot Sharq airline will arrive in the Hungarian capital on Sunday, and from September it will operate twice a week between the two countries.
According to the announcement, the number of flights will increase to three flights per week from the beginning of next year and to four flights per week from 2025. Péter Szijjártó emphasized that in view of the launch of the new flights,
the number of consuls at the Hungarian Embassy in Tashkent has been increased and the visa issuing process has been sped up,
so that Uzbeks will be able to travel to Hungary more smoothly than before, and the same applies vice versa.
The minister also stressed that Uzbekistan, like Hungary, sees nuclear energy as a guarantee of a safe, cheap, and reliable supply, and that Uzbekistan wants to build a new nuclear power plant in Tashkent, using dry-cooling technology, the best of which can be provided by a Hungarian company.
It has been agreed that if progress is made on the nuclear project in Uzbekistan, Hungarian dry-cooling technology will be used, meaning hundreds of millions of euros in joint Russian-Uzbek-Hungarian nuclear cooperation,”
the Foreign Minister noted.
Szijjártó said he was confident that the new air service would give a fresh impetus to economic relations, and welcomed the fact that Hungarian pharmaceutical companies had already established a foothold in the Central Asian state. He added that Richter is now in talks to manufacture two of its products locally, while Meditop has opened an office and is preparing investments in the country.
Hungarian bank OTP has agreed to set up a joint investment fund with the Uzbek state investment fund worth USD 100 million.
The minister noted that preparations are well underway for a special industrial zone near Tashkent, where Hungarian investors can operate under preferential rules. He added that everything would be ready by the end of the year, and dozens of companies are already interested in the opportunities. He also mentioned that the fact that 170 Uzbek students a year can study at Hungarian universities on scholarships, and that almost 800 students applied for scholarships last time, is an important achievement.
Via Világgazdaság, Featured image via MTI/Kovács Attila
