ITD Hungary organizes a seminar and training on the changing of product price regulation in Eger on the 23rd of February. Please, follow the link to find out more!
According to the first reading of the Central Statistics Office, published on Tuesday, Hungary had a EUR 375 million trade surplus in December, which means that the trade surplus for 2009 amounts to EUR 4.57 billion. Exports increased for the first time since September 2008, and import volumes shrank at a slower speed than before. Ignoring December, from January to November 2009, the volume of exports and imports fell by 13 and 19 pct, respectively, compared to the same period of the preceding year. Trade balance in that period showed a surplus of HUF 1,184 billion (EUR 4,194 million), which meant an improvement of HUF 1,222 billion (EUR 4,432 million) compared to the deficit of HUF 38 billion (EUR 238 million) in January-November 2008. In December the European Union had a 77 pct share in Hungary's imports and a 65 pct share in Hungary's exports, the office said.
The Érd-Erzsébet rainwater drainage system will be completed by the end of summer by investing over HUF 663 million.This project will be implemented under the Central Hungary Operational Program from EU funding amounting to HUF 597 million and will largely contribute to improving the quality of life of the 2,400 residents living in the area. An 8,550 meter-long drainage canal and a 2,330 meter-long drainage network regulating groundwater will be constructed as part of this development.
Hungary and the United States have signed an agreement designed to avoid double taxation and tax evasion, the Finance Ministry told MTI on Thursday. The new agreement will replace the one signed in 1979. Finance Minister Peter Oszkó signed on behalf of Hungary and US Ambassador to Hungary Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis for the US. The economic and political changes and Hungary's participation in various international organizations such as OECD also called for the replacement of the 30-year-old agreement. The new agreement aims at regulating taxation with transparent rules. It is operative for income-taxes and clarifies which state has the right to levy tax for each type of earning category. The agreement takes into account and is based on the principle of equal opportunities, i.e. each state has the right to initiate a mutual arbitration if it feels that a taxation procedure is not in accordance with the agreement. The agreement will be sent to Parliament for approval, which is expected before the end of February. If approved, it comes into effect from January 2011.
ONGC, India's largest state-owned oil company, is seeking ways to expand cooperation with Hungarian oil and gas company MOL to jointly pursue exploration and production opportunities in third countries, India's The Economic Times (ET) reported on February 8.According to ONGC plans, the two companies could consider joint bids for oil and gas blocks coming on the market in Central and Eastern Europe, CIS countries and the Middle East.MOL signed an agreement to acquire a 35 pct interest in a block in India operated by ONGC in 2008. The contract requires approval by the Indian government to go ahead.
The approximately 3 kilometer-long section of Road 6541 bypassing the settlement of Hosszúhetény has just been completed under the Regional Operational Program of the New Hungary Development Plan with the EU funding amounting to more than HUF 948 million.One of the objectives of priority transport development projects implemented under the Regional Operational Program of the New Hungary Development Plan relates to developing the subsidiary road network. That includes renewing and upgrading 4 and 5 digit roads and constructing missing by-roads or bypasses with the aim of improving the quality of transport in settlements affected by this development, as well as integrating small settlements into economic circulation and reducing detrimental environmental impacts.
Floorcovering Manufacturers Ltd, Graboplast has filed a patent for its nanotechnological procedure, which allows for the production of scratch- and dirt-free PVC flooring, used in public buildings, such as hospitals, stadiums and metro stations. Adding aggregates to it, PVC gains new properties, said Péter Jancsó, president-CEO of the company at a press conference, which he also demonstrated to journalists with a test. The surface does not show any burns after cigarette butts are dropped on it, and can be cleaned very easily. Graboplast spent HUF 110 million on the technology and the production lines in its Győr factory. So far Graboplast has mainly exported to European and former Soviet states; however its new export targets are Russia, India, China and Egypt. Jancsó said that by 2012 the new PVC flooring will make up 75 pct of its production. So far they have sold 100 000 square meters from the new surface, in Sao Paolo, Brazil 3 stadiums' flooring is covered by their innov ative product. According to preliminary data, Graboplast's revenues last year was 15 pct less than a year ago, when it was HUF 19 billion, but they ended the year with a profit.
The Pannunion Group's sales revenue rose 13.2 pct in the fourth quarter of 2009 to HUF 3.2 billion (EUR 11.88 million), the company said on the Budapest Stock Exchange website.The packaging materials company had EBITDA of HUF 350 million in the same period, a drop of 22.1 pct from the fourth quarter of 2008.The group had pre-tax losses of HUF 76 million in the last quarter of 2009 compared to losses of HUF 619 million in the same period of 2008. In the entire 2009, the group's sales revenue rose 4.1 pct to HUF 12.37 billion, with EBITDA growing 26.4 pct to HUF 1.746 billion from 2008. Pannunion closed last year with positive pre-tax profit and net losses of HUF 33 million compared to net losses of HUF 720 million in 2008. The group's operating profit rose a steep 84 pct in 2009.
Spanish funeral services company Funespana on February 1 said it plans to invest EUR 40 million in Hungary over the next ten years.Funespana will invest the money in Budapest and Hungarian cities with more than 100,000 residents.
Three renewed healthcare institutions are about to be handed over in the North Great Plain region within the framework of the New Hungary Development Plan. A total of 183 healthcare development projects allocated funding amounting to more than HUF 40 billion were launched under the Regional Operational Programme during the 2007-2008 period with the help of EU funding; 35 such projects have already been handed overThe new healthcare institutions that have just been set up were built or renewed in settlements located in multiply disadvantaged micro-regions. An extremely high ratio of people living in these settlements is unemployed and live under difficult social conditions, which largely influences their state of health. Ensuring appropriate infrastructure and medical equipment, as well as suitable standard basic healthcare services and increasing efficiency is extremely important in these settlements.
General Motors announced that it does not cease any workplaces in its Szentgotthárd plant. GM invests altogether EUR 11 billion in Europe by 2014, with which they reorganize production in order to be profitable again in 2012. In Szentgotthárd they keep on manufacturing 1.6 and 1.8 engine motors and in the future they produce Allison gear sticks here as well
Reuters Hungary's Richter Q4 net profit drops 2.7 pct"Hungarian drug maker Richter Gedeon GDRB.BU reported on Tuesday a 2.7 percent drop in fourth-quarter net income, but the results beat market expectations due to higher sales and lower expenditures." Click here to read Reuters Kazakhstan Halts Oil Exports to Slovakia, Hungary"Kazakhstan has halted Urals crude oil supplies to Slovakia and Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline amid a trade dispute with Ukraine, prompting Russian oil firm LUKOIL to intervene to compensate for the loss, traders said on Tuesday." Click here to read Caboodle Hungarian Film Festival Main Prize Goes to Bibliotheque PascalBibliotheque Pascal, a film telling the story of an East European woman forced to work as a prostitute in the West, won the top "Golden Reel" award at the 41st Hungarian Film Festival Monday evening. Szabolcs Hajdu's film also won the Gene Moskowitz foreign critics prize, the student jury panel's trophy and the best cinematography prize. Click here to read
"Transformation in Hungarian Law (1989-2006)" Following the change of the political system in Hungary during 1989-1990, Hungarian law also went through significant transformation. It has become obvious by now that there is not a single area of the Hungarian legal system that has not been affected by important changes. This collection of studies attempts to summarize only the major changes in the Hungarian legal system since 1990. Click here for more information
Copyright © 2010, ITD Hungary. All rights reserved.