11 minute read
COMPANY BRIEFS
ERSTE BANK HUNGARY TO ACQUIRE COMMERZBANK HUNGARY
Erste Bank has received regulatory approval to acquire the Hungarian subsidiary of Commerzbank. Migration preparations are already underway and the transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022 with the integration of Commerzbank's Hungarian subsidiary, which will allow Erste to further expand its corporate business. According to a statement by Erste Bank Hungary, the parties continue to expect a smooth transition, with customers receiving all relevant information directly. Following the closing of the transaction, Commerzbank's customers will also have access to Erste Bank's wide range of services. On December 17, 2021, Frankfurt-based Commerzbank AG entered into an agreement with Erste Bank Hungary Plc. to sell its Hungarian subsidiary. The sale of the Hungarian subsidiary is part of the Commerzbank 2024 Strategy, announced in February 2021, under which the bank will exit certain international markets, including Hungary, in order to rationalize its network. Commerzbank AG set up its Hungarian subsidiary nearly 30 years ago, with offices in three cities in addition to its Budapest headquarters. Commerzbank Plc. employs around 100 people and serves local and international corporate clients, supporting Hungarian companies' domestic, German and global activities as well as the Hungarian business of German and international clients. The bank has a strong market presence in Hungary in corporate lending, trade finance and foreign exchange. Following the completion of the acquisition, Erste Bank Hungary plans to integrate Commerzbank Plc. into its own organization. The transfer of corporate customer accounts is expected to take place in the second half of 2022, with customer servicing continuing as usual. Both banks expect a smooth transition.
Advertisement
LAFARGE COMMITTED TO THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
LAFARGE Cement Hungary Ltd., as one of the leading manufacturers of building materials in the Hungarian construction industry, has already introduced a number of measures and programs to implement a circular economy and reduce its carbon footprint. As a result, it has now achieved 100% alternative fuel operation. In a press release, LAFARGE Cement Hungary Ltd. says it is able to reduce its dependence on natural resources and fossil fuels by using materials that are treated as waste for other industries as a resource in cement production. In doing so, it creates value for society and the environment by offering an alternative way to recover waste (replacing incineration or landfilling). The firm introduced the recovery of alternative fuels under the Geocycle brand in 2014 and today replaces more than 80% of fossil fuels with waste for co-incineration. "Since the start-up of the cement factory in Királyegyház, we have implemented more than HUF 4.5 billion worth of environmental, circular economy-related investments, which have resulted in a reduction of CO₂ emissions per ton of cement by more than 25%. We are particularly proud that in our cement plant, which is just over ten years old, we have been able to operate the kiln fully, i.e. 100%, with coincineration waste for several shifts this year. And our goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050," Managing Director Tamás Hoffmann says, reporting on their environmental achievements so far. On the road to a carbon neutral future, LAFARGE plans to recycle construction and demolition waste in cement production, as well as to invest in the use of new material streams as alternative fuels or raw materials.
AIRPORT DEVELOPMENTS APPROACHING HUF 80 BILLION SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC BUILDING SMART FACTORY IN DUNAVECSE
Developments at Ferenc Liszt International Airport have continued in 2022 in the spirit of quality and sustainability. The airport management company Budapest Airport says it spent a total of more than HUF 5.3 billion on various infrastructure and sustainability projects in the first half of the year, bringing the total value of the past three and a half years’ developments to nearly HUF 80 billion. In July, the Universal Airport Hub opened its doors in the city center. At the outlet on Kálvin Square, passengers can drop off their bags for safekeeping before their last sightseeing in Budapest, the passengers of participating airlines can check in and print boarding passes using kiosks, and if they are flying with Wizz Air, Air France-KLM, Norwegian or Aegan, they can also tag their hold baggage for later and faster drop off at the airport. Schneider Electric's new manufacturing plant in Dunavecse (central Hungary), which is expected to start production in 2024, will use stateof-the-art technology and digital solutions. The plant will produce medium voltage equipment for electrical distribution systems. The investment will reach HUF 16bn (EUR 40mn), according to a statement by the company. The smart factory will cover 20,000 square meters and will meet all the technological, sustainability and digital demands of our time: carbon neutral operation and the most advanced industrial technology will be used to produce medium-voltage equipment for electrical distribution systems. Easy connectivity to the planned M8 motorway and to Schneider Electric's Central European Logistics Center (CEELog) in Szigetszentmiklós as well as the fact that the company’s Global Procurement Hub (GSC) is headquartered in Budapest played a major role in the choice of the location. The new plant will fully be able to meet European market needs. “The new investment clearly underlines the prominent role of Hungary at Schneider Electric and will further enhance the competitiveness of our company in Europe in the medium voltage products market. We have significant growth expectations for the future at Group level. Just thinking of the replacement of fossil fuels and the ever-growing share of renewable energy usage both on retail and industrial level, as well as the outstanding rise of e-mobility infrastructure and the growing demand for digitization and data centers. As a result, there’s a need to continuously improve utility networks and optimize energy efficiency. That's why at Schneider Electric we are ready for investments and developments like this one, so that we can serve these emerging needs in the most complex and professional way possible,” the Country General Manager of Schneider Electric, Zsolt Veres, said. The plant is expected to start production in 2024 and will enable 500 highskilled jobs for people living in the area beyond 2025.
The range of services is constantly expanding, with baggage wrapping and baggage size checks soon to be available in-store, to avoid having to wait at the airport during the peaks. On the Terminal 1 apron, the seven stands used by the integrators have been covered with new basalt concrete pavement with a greater load-bearing capacity, replacing the previous asphalt pavement over an area of more than 4,000 square meters, to ensure smooth and safe working conditions. In addition, the joints between the concrete slabs on the Terminal 2 apron are being replaced with a new material that is more durable and flexible than before, to ensure long-term protection of the concrete slabs. During the summer months, developments that are less visible to passengers have also commenced, such as the mapping of utility supply options for Terminal 3 and the demolition of operational buildings at the airport that can no longer be viably refurbished and used in their current condition. They will be replaced by new facilities of high quality and efficient operation.
company briefs
The first phase of the planned major shutdown of the Danube Refinery in Százhalombatta, south of Budapest, was completed, the Hungarian oil and gas company Mol kept to schedule and restarted all plants, thus producing fuel at full capacity again, the company said in a statement in the middle of September. The second phase of maintenance is scheduled to start on October 9. The company had originally
MOTOR-CLASSIC IN TATABÁNYA BUILDS NEW PRODUCTION HALL
Tatabánya-based Motor-Classic Plc., a manufacturer of precision metal parts and restoration of veteran cars, is expanding its plant with a new production hall and a modern machining center. According to marketing director Viktor Tamás, the company is expanding its 5,000-square-meter production area with a new 2,000-square-meter hall, which will house a five-axis machining machine and a 3D coordinate measuring machine. The new equipment will significantly increase the capacity of the company's CNC department, which will be able to produce automotive and energy components with millimeter precision and without scrap in small and medium series. The company has won a conditional grant of HUF 600 million for the investment from the EU-supported GINOP tender for the promotion of business research, development and innovation. The development also includes the installation of a renewable scheduled the maintenance for April, but due to the situation on the fuel market, it only started the work at the end of July to ensure the country's gasoline and diesel supplies. It was the largest maintenance operation in the history of this refinery, with more than 1,200 technicians involved in the work, which had a budget of HUF 8 billion. Some 40% of the refinery's equipment was affected. "The major shutdown was also one of the most complex industrial technical inspections in Hungary, as after the necessary maintenance, the responsible authorities also inspected the equipment," the statement read. It was reported that the second phase of the fall maintenance will start on 9 October, during which specialists will carry out planned overhauls of other plants. Completion of the work is expected in the first third of November. By fully maintaining the plants, Mol is ensuring the long-term security of domestic fuel production, they said.
energy production system. Motor-Classic Plc. started in 1985 as a ‘garage company’ for the restoration of vintage motorcycles, and now operates a world-class restoration base on 5,000 square meters in an industrial zone of Tatabánya, west of Budapest. The company is the only such one in Europe to have its own high-capacity galvanizing shop. They refurbish 20-25 cars a year and their most important customers include the Mercedes Factory Museum and the Mercedes Classic Club network. The waiting list for new work is 1-2 years. Motor-Classic Plc. had a turnover of HUF 2 billion in 2020 and HUF 3.6 billion in 2021. It employs 147 people.
GOOD SUMMER NUMBERS AT BUDAPEST'S MAIN AIRPORT
The growth in passenger numbers, typical of the summer months, continued in August, with a total of 1,299,814 passengers passing through Budapest’s Ferenc Liszt International Airport. August was thus the third month in a row when passenger traffic reached or exceeded 80% of the record-breaking 2019 volume before the coronavirus pandemic, and the fourth month when total monthly passenger traffic exceeded one million. In the summer months, the airport handled a total of 3,802,591 passengers, nearly as many as in the whole of 2020, the year most affected by the pandemic. The most popular destinations in August were Tel Aviv, London, Amsterdam, Antalya and Frankfurt, according to the latest airport bulletin published by the airport management company Budapest Airport. In terms of cargo volumes, despite the global downward trend, they remained stable yearon-year, with a 47% increase in the JanuaryAugust period, compared to the same months in 2019, before the opening of the Cargo City. The volume handled in August (15,375 tons) Diplomacy-n-Trade.ai 1 2017. 02. 27. 11:22:30 decreased marginally, by 2.1%, compared to the same month in 2021. The bulletin adds that Budapest Airport is expanding the baggage reclaim area of Terminal 2A, in preparation for the seamless handling of the expected increase in passenger traffic in the future. As a result of the development, from September 15, the flights of Air France, KLM, Finnair, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, as well as Smartwings flights landing between 14:00 and 23:59 local time arrive at Terminal 2B and receive their hold baggage there. Budapest Airport asks all meeters and greeters; relatives, taxi companies, transfer service providers and travel agencies to wait for the affected passengers in Terminal 2B from mid-September. The investment is another step in a series of capacity expansion projects which will reduce waiting times for arriving passengers and make it faster and more convenient for them to pick up their bags in the larger space. The works are expected to last until March 15.
C
M
Y
NEW CHEESE FACTORY COMPLETED IN SZEKSZÁRD
CM
MY
The Hungarian government has paid 40% of the construction costs of a new HUF five billion cheese factory complex in Szekszárd, Southern Hungary. Tolnatej's new plant will have the capacity to produce 19,000 tons of cheese a year, and the development will secure the company's operations and jobs for the coming period, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. Speaking at the plant's inauguration, Finance Minister Mihály Varga said Hungarian food businesses had increased their investments despite the war crisis, spending more than HUF 170 billion forints on development in the first K half of the year. The share of domestic food products in retail trade now exceeds 70%. The government's goal is self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs and to achieve at least 80% of all food products to be Hungarian.
CY CMY
