Hungary will be one of the special guests at the Golden Autumn agricultural and food industry exhibition held in Moscow on October 8-12; Hungarian wines will be represented by the Szekszárd wine region, the Ministry of Rural Development's Parliamentary State Secretary announced on Friday in Szekszárd.

At a press conference held at the Eszterbauer wine cellar, Gyula Budai informed the press that some forty Hungarian enterprises would be presenting their wares at the exhibition on a two-hundred square metre stand funded by the Ministry of Rural Development, including eight wine producers from Szekszárd who will be showcasing their premium quality wines.

In addition to the exhibition, the promotion of Hungarian wines on the Russian market will also be launched under the slogan "Hungarian Harvest in Moscow", on the model of the Hungarian harvest in Berlin, a successful drive launched three years ago. On 9 October in Moscow, representatives of the Russian political and business elite will enjoy a wine dinner to mark the launching of the initiative. Hungary would like to be present on the Russian market with premium category wines, and wines from Szekszárd are especially suitable for this, the State Secretary added.

The Hungarian delegation will be headed by Minister of Rural Development Sándor Fazekas, who will be meeting Russian Minister of Agriculture Nikolay Fyodorov for the fourth time since coming to office. This is also proof of the fact that relations between Hungary and Russia are improving rapidly, as they did in the period preceding the nineties, he noted.

Mayor of Szekszárd István Horváth (Fidesz-KDNP) said that following the exhibition in Moscow, the representatives of the Szekszárd wine region would also have the opportunity to participate in a wine show in Saint-Petersburg, which is being organised for professional and possible commercial partners.

In 2012, 3.3 million dollars in Hungarian exports and 8.3 million dollars in Russian imports made up the 11.6 million dollar trade turnover between the two countries.

Following the session of the Hungarian-Russian Economic Joint Committee in Budapest, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szíjjártó informed the press that Hungarian exports had increased by 11 percent during the first five months of the year, leading to an improvement in the negative balance (from the Hungarian perspective). According to Mr. Szijjártó's statement, agriculture and food industry exports increased by over 20 percent in the given period, exceeding 125 million dollars.

(MTI)