The East-Hungarian border town of Záhony could become an international logistics centre, as a Russian logistics company plans to build a warehouse base there. Záhony, the provincial town bordering Ukraine, aims to become the EU base of railway freight traffic between Europe and Asia.
Záhony once played a significant role in the region: an annual 15 million tons of goods arrived from the Soviet Union through the border town until the change of regime. From the mid-’90s, trade of goods decreased to one-third of its previous volume, and last year only 5.6 million tons of commodities arrived from CIS countries.
At the same time, illegal trade has flourished to date. While Hungarian citizens drive over to Ukraine to buy cheap petrol and cigarettes on a daily basis, Ukrainian “tourists” come to the border towns with an eye to buy anything from the wide variety of goods on offer in Hungarian shops.
At the end of 2002, Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy and Russian President Vlagyimir Putyin agreed that in order to develop trade between Hungary and Russia, logistic centres should be set up in both countries.
Medgyessy suggested Záhony for the project.Furthermore, the Russian government aims to develop an alternative railway route through Hungary to Southern-Europe in addition to its main foreign trade itinerary through Poland. However, some logistic experts say Moscow is not serious about developments in Záhony, and the plan is only meant to be a warning to Poland.
In the first phase until 2006, a 60,000–70,000 square meter warehouse will be built from HUF 10 billion, financed by Russian logistics company Taktik, which aspires for EU funds to supplement its investment.
Taktik has set up a joint venture with Záhony and Area Development Kft. (ZTF) under the name of Transzlogisztikai Rt. ZTF’s majority owner is the Hungarian state through the Regional Development Holding and the Prime Minister’s Office.According to Taktik CEO Vladimir Boldirev, trade through Záhony will soon double, as Russian companies will transport 2 million–3 million tons more in goods in the first few years.Furthermore, Hungary could benefit from the Záhony project because of high customs duties.
According to EU rules, 25% of customs value goes into the central budget of the recipient country – in this case Hungary if companies transporting to member states declare goods in Záhony.Hungary is only expected to provide the area for the future logistics base. This year’s central budget has allocated HUF 1 billion for the project, but the amount has been slashed to HUF 700 million due to the recent austerity measures.
Source: HVG
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01.05.2004