Hungary Minister of Construction and Investment reveals his important goal

On Thursday, at the economic forum of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hajdú-Bihar County in Debrecen, the Minister of Construction and Investment asked for help from the sector's players to implement his plans, and offered them partnership.    

He said that as Minister of Investment, he started his work by not laying foundation stones but by digging them up: the government has suspended 302 investments this year, worth HUF 2,140 billion.  

"This is the overheads of war on the investment front for Hungary," said János Lázár, referring to the costs of the Russia-Ukraine war, using the cabinet's favourite buzz word 'overheads' instead. 

On the latter, he also pointed out that Hungary's gas costs in 2021 were €7 billion, while this year they are €17 billion, meaning that €10 billion of resources have been lost.

Lázár here echoed Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who said a week ago that the European Union's sanctions policy had caused energy prices to skyrocket, creating a deficit of 10 billion euros a year for the Hungarian economy.

Another consequence of the war is that all of the investments that have been started and are awaiting completion are underfunded: there are 351 such investments in the country, costing HUF 3,410 billion altogether, while in the construction industry there has been a 15%-20 price increase, which means that there is a HUF 500-600 billion shortfall in the funds for the investments currently underway, he elaborated. He noted, however, that in the past 12 years the Hungarian state has contributed HUF 25 trillion to the country's development and growth, 70% of which went to infrastructure development.     

János Lázár said that there will be a fundamental change in development policy, for him the countryside comes first, supporting rural investments, construction and transport development.

To this end, two legislative packages are being prepared, which will completely restructure the extremely fragile construction sector of the Hungarian economy, which provides jobs for 400,000 people. 

He said that the most important aim of the forthcoming investment framework law was to continue public development for the common good, to improve the preparation of public investments, and to "create Hungarian profit from Hungarian raw materials, Hungarian expertise and Hungarian labour". 

He added that the entire Hungarian construction code will be reviewed with the involvement of professional organisations. The Minister promised to dismantle obstacles and bureaucracy, one of the aims of which is to "bring Hungary to the next level of civilization", while at the same time, he said, "we must apply civic taste in investments, [...] we must build well, better, with good taste".  

János Lázár also spoke about the need to strengthen the competitiveness of Hungarian businesses, so that "the Hungarian construction industry can stand its ground in Hungary". He added that it is not only necessary to be Hungarian, but also to be really good at what you do.    

The Minister said that one important goal is to ensure that in the future no investment decisions can be taken without the consent of local communities.

According to the politician, the energy situation will have a significant impact on the country's prospects this year and the next: the aim is to guarantee the energy supply of the population in the long term, and the government has been restructured to this end.     

At the economic forum, János Lázár praised the work of László Palkovics, whose ministership transformed Hungarian industry and transport, and who also did a lot for the development of Debrecen.      

He stressed the importance of mobility, which has not only a transport dimension but also a social dimension. For example, he said that if someone has to travel more than an hour to work, sooner or later they will move closer to it. It is therefore important to modernise the 32,000 kilometres of secondary roads managed by the state, to make the 174 district centres more accessible and to ensure mobility. 

He also pointed out that 50% of the 8,500 kilometres of railway lines are subject to speed restrictions (15% in Austria), and that Hungarian trains are delayed for 150-200 hours a day, which makes transport substantially more problematic. 

Regarding the development of traffic infrastructure, he noted that "Hungary is a stable bridge between East and West", and Záhony is the country's gateway to the East. He also spoke of the intention that

not all roads should lead to Budapest, and development should not be centred on Budapest,

but added that the capital would also benefit from this and that the capital would be given everything it needed, but that should not mean that the countryside would not develop.  

The country must be put on track,

the minister said, referring to the plans to develop the railways, but he pointed out that until this is achieved, "the persecution of motorists in Hungary must stop," he said, adding that "car users cannot be denied their rights, they must be supported." 

János Lázár calls for the introduction of combined county transport passes. He said that in Budapest and its agglomeration, a monthly pass of HUF 9,500 would cover 40,000 to 45,000 journeys, while the same amount of money would be enough to cover ten kilometres in Hajdú-Bihar county, for example.  

At the end of the economic forum, János Lázár mentioned some specific development plans that have priority. He highlighted

• the construction of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line, which is in Hungary's strategic interest,
• the construction of the V0 southern circular railway,
• the renewal of the entire Budapest Local Interest Railway (HÉV) system,
• and the high-speed railway between Budapest and Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár).   

The Ministry's programmes for Debrecen include the implementation of the eastern bypass road, the construction of the intermodal centre, the construction of the tram-train line between Debrecen and Oradea (Nagyvárad), the development of the Debrecen International Airport into a regional aviation port with a two-million-turnover capacity, and the widening of the 47 main road between Debrecen and Békéscsaba to four lanes, said Lázár.

Cover photo: János Lázár, Minister of Construction and Investment, speaks at the economic forum organised by the Hajdú-Bihar County Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Debrecen, 24 November 2022. Source: MTI/Zsolt Czeglédi