MOL preparing to start gas extraction from one of most significant fields in Azerbaijan, Szijjarto says

Hungary has recently gained a lot from cooperation with Azerbaijan, which has brought about very serious development in key sectors, such as the energy industry, the pharmaceutical industry, agriculture and construction, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said on Friday after the meeting of the Hungarian-Azeri Joint Economic Commission in Budapest. Szijjarto said that "energy cooperation with Azerbaijan has enabled Hungary to become an energy-producing country even without oil and gas fields". 

According to Report, he noted that Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and state-owned MVM have acquired shares in the world's most significant natural gas and oil fields in Azerbaijan and can now act as sellers on international energy markets. 

Szijjarto said last year 15% of MOL's group-level hydrocarbon production was linked to Azerbaijan, approximately 5m barrels of crude, and MVM extracted 382m cubic metres of gas from another significant hydrocarbon field in four months. 

"MOL is on the verge of signing another agreement to become not only a part-owner but also the operator of another large Azerbaijani field. An agreement has been reached that, in addition to crude oil production, natural gas production will also start with MOL"s participation in one of the world's most significant hydrocarbon fields from next year," he added. The minister said that Hungarian companies have so far acted as sellers in the pharmaceutical sector in Azerbaijan, while now, following an investment agreement, two significant domestic companies will also be able to act as contract manufacturers, gaining even greater market opportunities. Szijjarto also noted that soft drink maker Hell Energy will soon start building a plant in Azerbaijan.

"We have been building cooperation with Azerbaijan based on mutual respect and mutual benefits for fifteen years, not just yesterday, for which we were initially laughed at and lectured by those Europeans who today are lining up in Baku to take photos with the Azerbaijani president," the minister said. Everything is in place for the further development of Hungarian-Azerbaijani economic relations, there are no open political issues between the two countries, and cooperation has already yielded great results, Peter Szijjarto said at a Hungarian-Azerbaijani business forum, according to a statement issued by his ministry. The event was attended by representatives of more than sixty Hungarian businesses and around thirty Azerbaijani companies.