National
Development Agency

The assistance contract of the project co-funded by EU funding was signed at Fényeslitke on 27 July. Major public road investments also co-financed from EU funding have also been concurrently launched in the region. The aim of all similar infrastructure developments to be implemented in the region is for the region of Záhony to evolve into one of the biggest and most sophisticated railway and logistics junctions along the eastern external border of the EU by summer 2012 with the help of an EU co-funded investment amounting to a total of nearly 25.6 billion HUF.    

Záhony’s geographical location and infrastructure potentials are also unique in a European context. There are railway connections to Ukraine and Russia from the region and the basic infrastructure is in place for transferring goods shipped via the Ukrainian and Russian railway network, where the width of the track is wider in relation to the track network in Hungary – and naturally that of the European Union standard as well – to the narrower European track width railway network. Since Záhony lies on one of the main European transport corridors and is a part of Corridor No 5, these developments are just as important for the entire European Union.   

According to experts, by renewing the existing railway infrastructure in the Záhony region that connects to the Ukrainian network, the overall circulation of commodities may increase from its current volume of 5.3 million tonnes to 8.5 million tonnes at an annual level. Handling an amount of goods of this volume and transferring goods from one train to another, from trains to roads and vice versa, and naturally preferably processing as greater a proportion of these as possible implies a huge task for enterprises that have already settled in the region, as well as logistics enterprises to settle in the region in the near future. According to estimates, the investments to be launched in 16 settlements of the Záhony region will create jobs for some 1,200 unemployed individuals within a short space of time and, in overall terms, will contribute to creating or retaining 3400 jobs in a region where high unemployment   is prevalent today.

Construction work in the industrial-logistics area destined for inter-modal traffic – i.e. ensuring transfer between and interlinking of various modes of transport - planned in the Fényeslitke and Komoró region will soon begin within the framework of one of the first major investments of the Záhony „mega-programme”. Major railway developments will commence in both settlements and the development of the necessary public utilities – i.e. the entire water utilities network, internal electricity network and the internal road network – will also be carried out in the industrial-logistics area within the framework of this investment costing a little over a total of 3.5 billion HUF to be implemented by July 2010 with the help of EU funding amounting to nearly 1.8 billion HUF.

Major road developments have also been launched in the region concurrently to the industrial park and railway infrastructure investments. The reconstruction of the Tuzsér access road connecting to Highway 4 has been completed by implementing a 58 million HUF investment, which was also co-financed by the European Union. Beyond ensuring safer traffic conditions for local residents, this renewed road stretch, as well as other road renewals to be implemented in the region in the near future, will also be capable of satisfying the transport needs of enterprises settling in the Záhony region.