Hungarian trading house opens in Armenian capital

September 26, 2014 - 17:20 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Hungarian trading house has been opened in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the state-owned Hungarian National Trading House Company (MNKH) announced today, Sept 26, according to Budapest Business Journal.

The trading house is the 15th Hungarian trade office in the world.

MNKH CEO György Kerekes said the aim of the trading house is to seek new markets and opportunities and boost trade relations and exports.

MNKH has trading houses in China, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Vietnam, Brazil, Macedonia and Ghana. It plans to raise the number to 25 by year-end.

Armenia suspended diplomatic ties with Hungary in 2012 following the country’s extradition of Azerbaijani axe-murderer Ramil Safarov who hacked to death an Armenian officer in Budapest. Safarov was welcomed back to Azerbaijan, awarded with a major rank, apartment and 8 year's worth of salary.

At the time, Hungary, stated that it had sent Safarov back to Azerbaijan after receiving assurances from the Azerbaijani Justice Ministry that Safarov's sentence, which included the possibility of parole after 25 years, would be enforced.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban first stated that he transferred the prisoner to Azerbaijan on the understanding that he would serve out the rest of his life sentence in his home country. In later statements, Orban admitted that he not only signed the extradition agreement himself, but that he had repeatedly been warned that if Safarov were extradited to oil-rich Azerbaijan, he would be pardoned and even celebrated by Ilham Aliyev's brutal dictatorial regime. According to some reports, Safarov was extradited to Azerbaijan in exchange for Azeri purchase of Hungarian securities worth Euro 2-3 billion, an information official Budapest denies.

“Hungarian prime minister is “morally bankrupt” and should resign after admitting that he personally approved the transfer of the Azeri axe murderer while knowing the likely consequences,” the leader of the opposition Socialists said.