The Ministry of Rural Development has inaugurated a new electric car charging station in Budapest. The new charging pylon, which contains two charging stations, is the tenth in the capital.

The "filling station" for electric cars, which is freely accessible to the public, was inaugurated by Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas, who spoke about the fact that the charging station helps facilitate the increased spread of electric vehicles.

Fidesz MEP Béla Glattfelder, who also attended the ceremony, stressed that the European Union promotes the use of renewable energy resources. It was in this spirit that the EU Directive that aims to achieve the widespread use of electric vehicles within the European Union was developed. Accordingly, 7 thousand such electric car charging stations should be installed throughout the country by 2020.

Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Zoltán Illés told Hungarian news agency MTI that the Government was committed to creating the conditions necessary for the widespread appearance of electrically powered vehicles in Hungary. One of the steps in this process is that the Ministry for Rural Development is the very first public administration body to have acquired electric cars, and their number is expected to increase in future as funding becomes available.

Zoltán Kövesdi, member of the Board of Directors of Hungarian electricity company ELMŰ, told reporters that the Group has been supporting the increase in the numbers of electric vehicles in Hungary since 2010, and accordingly ELMŰ is providing free energy to people with electric cars through the new charging pylons. The company's plans to install several new electric car charging stations in Budapest this year are also driven by this goal, he added, pointing out that the cost of a single pylon is some HUF 1.5 million. Mr. Kövesdi also mentioned that ELMŰ also views promoting electric bicycles as an important goal.

(MTI, Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)