Mol to invest USD 13 m in building rubber bitumen plant in Tatarstan

The project will be implemented in partnership with Tatneft, a local partner, Peter Szijjarto told a press conference.

Preparations for the project is under way, he said, adding that the government is in talks with Mol on the size of a possible state grant for the project, he said.

Tatarstan is one of Russia’s richest and fastest developing republics of Russia with 40 million tonnes of crude oil produced per year and 1.3 billion tonnes stored in reserves, Szijjarto said.

He called bilateral relations “special”, noting that Hungary is the only EU member state to operate a diplomatic mission in Tatarstan. Szijjarto further noted direct flights operating between the two capital cities, Budapest and Kazan.

Tatarstan is Hungary’s second most important trading partner in Russia after Moscow and its region, Szijjarto said, adding that bilateral trade last year exceeded half a billion dollars.

Karimov praised bilateral relations, noting that two-way trade in goods had gone up by 15 percent last year on 2018.

He welcomed that ties between Mol and Tatneft “are becoming even closer”.

Karimov said the talks covered cooperation possibilities in car manufacturing and the production of gas powered cars, as well as investment opportunities for Hungarian companies in the region.