Page 13 - bne_newspaper_March_29_2019

Central Europe
March 29, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
Germany’s FAKT plans largest ever agriculture investment in Hungary
Levente Szilagyi in Budapest
Germany’s FAKT AG group is planning a landmark agribusiness project in western Hungary which
in value would be among the highest on record and comparable to large greenfield investments by Audi and Mercedes, local media reported on March 26. The investment will create 5,000 jobs.
Essen-based FAKT is building a horticultural production, processing and logistics centre on the outskirts of Hegyeshalom and Bezenye, near Hungary's borders with Austria and Slovakia on 330 hectares.
The location is in the area where a large-scale casino city project was supposed to start in 2006. Back then foreign investors won a 20-year license to operate casinos. Eurovegas was originally expected to open in 2010, but construction was
Czech national bank holds off hiking interest rates until May
Nelly Tomchikova in Prague
The Czech National Bank (CNB) Board kept its interest rates unchanged at its meeting held on March 28 as expected. A hike in May, when the new forecast is to be presented, still remains a possibility if the data stabilizes and Czech crown remains weak.
Minister of Agriculture István Nagy with FAKT AG chairman-CEO Hubert Schulte-Kemper
delayed due to the economic crisis and later it was called off completely.
The German company chose the site due to its location on the Budapest-Vienna-Bratislava axis, offering outstanding infrastructure in both the north-south and east-west directions.
The investment is expected to create some 5,000 jobs, said FAKT AG chairman-CEO Hubert Schulte- Kemper. He described the project as the largest agricultural investment of its kind in recent times in Hungary, by which FAKT aims to produce and process vegetables and fruits in a modern, sus- tainable manner while creating a liveable working and dwelling environment around the site.
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The two-week repo rate remains at 1.75%, the discount rate at 0.75% and the Lombard rate at 2.75%.
According to the CNB Governor Jiri Rusnok, the reason for leaving rates unchanged was mainly