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Mr Orbán stated that today war posed the greatest threat. War means destruction, loss of homes and the devaluation of money; in a war, only one thing is truly in demand: everyone manufactures military equipment. Rather than going to factories, the workforce is taken to the front, there is no one to work in factories, and therefore, there is no purchasing power that could drive the economy, he pointed out, adding that “we should heed what’s going on in Ukraine; in a war, everything declines.”
He said there are many in Europe today who would nonetheless lead the continent to a war, and would even drag Hungary into it. Therefore, in addition to overarching economic plans, we must also pay attention and devote energy to “curbing, restraining and breaking” these forces, he stressed, encouraging everyone to take part in the election of local leaders as well as in the European election on 9 June.
He highlighted that Hungary’s industrial strategy is a good plan. In this, Mol plays an important role, and similar to Mol, our industrial strategy, too, is ambitious, enterprising even, but has both feet on the ground, he indicated. He warned, however, that today’s European politics, rather than supporting industry, regards it as a source of danger, and seeks to restrict it and to downsize it. This is called green politics, but an enormous amount of industrial capacity is lost in this poorly planned process, he observed.
Therefore, beyond our overarching economic plans, we must pay attention and devote energy to curbing, restraining and breaking these forces, Mr Orbán said.
Regarding the issue of war and peace, this election will be crucial, he stressed.
“I ask you to go and stand for peace, to help send the war hawks of Brussels packing. This is an essential pre-condition for the continuation of the industry policy efforts that we started 14 years ago, and so that we make Hungary one of Europe’s most thriving economies,” Mr Orbán said.
He stressed that an important element of Hungarian industry policy was to incentivise Hungarian businesses with state means to enter foreign markets, and to this end, they would soon launch a dedicated programme.
The Prime Minister said Mol has become Hungary’s most valuable, highly diversified company.
Mr Orbán pointed out: Mol is pursuing the same path as the Hungarian economy as 20 years ago the company’s range of activities “was hinged on a single point,” it was only engaged in crude oil trade, then embarked on an expansion project in the region, later created biogas and biodiesel plants in addition to conventional facilities, then entered the haulage market, and has most recently become an unavoidable player of the waste management market. The emergence on the scene and work of Chair-Chief Executive Zsolt Hernádi has been an invaluable contribution to this success story, he added.
“It’s like in a shooting gallery: the target held by the most sticks is the hardest to knock down,” the Prime Minister said, taking the view that it is therefore no wonder that Mol has become Hungary’s most valuable, diversified company.
He added that with the implementation of the Poliol Complex, not only did Mol take a step up the production chain, but Mol itself has become the entire production chain as in Tiszaújváros it has created a chemical industry complex which converts the produced and processed raw materials into finished products, and meanwhile, it even has interests in the transportation business.
He indicated that laypersons may even call Poliol “the Swiss knife of plastic production” as it covers the entire range, its products are needed everywhere, from the automotive industry through furniture manufacture all the way to the construction sector and the textile industry.
“We cook with what we have, and we make products that are good for everything. It’s as easy as pie, yet, few are capable of this; Mol is,” he said.
He recalled that Mol had inaugurated new plants also in 2015 and 2018 in Tiszaújváros with the involvement of Japanese investors, while this time, the project has been implemented with the technological contribution of the German ThyssenKrupp. Whenever Mol “embarks on a development,” they are not happy with anything less than the best Japanese and German cutting-edge technologies, he observed.
He described Mol as Hungary’s largest and most successful company, adding that whenever they build something, “it is – as they say in the army – built, to the highest specifications.”
The entire Hungarian nation has much to thank Mol for, this company was “our saviour in hard times” because when in the early days of the change of regime after the fall of communism socialist industry – which was indeed outdated – was “squandered under the pretence of privatisation,” Mol remained the only serious Hungarian business that was successful even in the most difficult times, he said. Had this not been the case, Hungary would have sustained much more severe wounds at the time of the change of regime, and also in the 2000s, “during the inglorious governance of the Left,” he added.
He said the fates of Mol and the Hungarian economy are two sides of the same book, and this book is effectively about how to win the 21st century, given that Hungary lost the 20th century.
In continuation, the Prime Minister said the same as Mol, the Hungarian national economy, too, now has more than one leg to stand on: it is diversified, and wants to climb higher on the ladder of production chains. We want to make Hungary more and more valuable, he said, adding that this can be described as the Hungarian strategy of connectivity.
According to Mr Orbán, Mol also helps Hungary to reduce its one-sided dependence. He mentioned the new natural gas and crude oil reserves in Hungary as an example. They can hardly wait to look upon Mol’s Chief Executive as “the Hungarian J. R. Ewing,” he said.
He also said the Hungarian economy is diversifying its energy procurement sources in order to minimise its exposure to world market processes. He added that Hungary procures natural gas from Qatar, will buy green electricity from Azerbaijan, is increasing its solar energy capacity, and meanwhile, is building a new nuclear power station.
He stressed that the country will need lots of energy indeed as – according to plans – the country’s electricity needs will increase by fifty per cent up to 2030, given that the most advanced industries will be brought to Hungary. “We have ventured” to make Hungary a meeting point for eastern raw materials and resources and western technologies and know-how, he stated.
He said “we will have western and eastern car factories, technologies and manufacturing capacity for the storage of green energy, we are taking part in space research, will connect Hungary to the most cutting-edge information technology blood circulation, will build Europe’s most advanced defence industry, and will also take a step forward in the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry and the chemical sector.”
Hungary’s industry policy will be able to place both sufficient energy and highly qualified workforce at the disposal of industry, the Prime Minister stated.
He said in Mol’s Tiszaújváros factory, three hundred highly trained people will work. Three hundred new jobs that will remain competitive also in the long run and represent a high added value will provide a safe and predictable future for three hundred people, he pointed out.
He stressed that an important element of Hungarian industry policy was to incentivise Hungarian businesses with state means to enter foreign markets. “Hungarian industry has grown so much that Hungary is not big enough anymore,” he said, adding that Hungarian businesses must invest abroad and must bring profits back home from there in order to offset the profits taken out by multinational corporations active in Hungary and to achieve a state of capital balance in the Hungarian economy within a few years.
Therefore, according to its plans, the government will support 5,000 further small and medium-sized businesses, in addition to the 12,000 Hungarian businesses already active abroad or able to supply foreign markets, to enable them to reach the required level, he announced, adding that they will shortly launch a dedicated new programme.
