President Vladimir Putin :
I am very pleased to see you Mr Prime Minister! Welcome!
I would like to point out that all of our previous agreements are being executed. I remember your concerns with respect to certain imbalances in our trade. Of course this imbalance still remains today but the present trend is developing in Hungary’s favour.
As far as I can tell from the documents, 70 percent of Hungary’s foreign trade balance is being compensated by increasing exports precisely to Russia. Hungarian exports to Russia amount to almost two billion dollars. And this includes machine building and communications. And exports in the communications sector – this is a strange figure – have increased 23 times! Our relations in the energy sector are also developing quite well.
I recall that you had concerns about oil deliveries. All of these problems have been resolved. We never had any problems in the gas sector and we have big plans in both the energy sector and in the transport sector.
I am very glad that you agreed to come to Moscow. We will hold intergovernmental consultations this fall and we will have the opportunity to talk about the whole range of our relations.
Welcome!
Prime Minister of Hungary Ferenc Gyurcsany:
Mr President! Thank you very much for your gracious hospitality and your kind words.
We came here to work. I see that in the last five years very positive changes have taken place in our countries’ relations. I am glad that you are not worried about changes in Hungary’s favour in our balance of trade. Indeed, our exports have room to grow. We see that over the past five years Hungarian exports of agricultural products to Russia have doubled. And, in general, Hungary’s exports have grown by more than four times.
And we are no longer holding talks with you about which products to export or which products to buy, how to cooperate in the investment sector, in the food industry, or even in the film industry. Or in the logistics sphere, in the construction of new apartments, or in the modernization of old housing.
It seems to me that the principle we have adhered to since the very beginning – less about the past and more about the present and the future – was effective. Our idea to talk less about politics and more about business and commerce also produced concrete results. I think that in many respects the results we obtained are the product of these well-founded principles.
I think that our regular meetings act as very good signal for all concerned. We were also able to develop relations that are not completely dominated by energy issues. Thanks to God and thanks to each others’ good will we are already talking about cooperation in the cultural and educational spheres.
Mr President, I came to Moscow to take stock of our results and to talk about how we can further develop our relations.
Thank you very much.