Hungarian political scientist: Azerbaijan’s role as transport & logistics center to increase

Azerbaijan is becoming not just a supplier of fossil, and now green energy resources, but is increasingly strengthening its role as an important logistics center between East and West, especially against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Hungarian political scientist Zoltán Kiszelly told Report.

“As a result of globalization, economic growth will shift towards the East, especially towards Asia. Azerbaijan as a resourceful country and part of the Middle Corridor of the Chinese New Silk Road is part of this potential economic well-performing area,” he noted.

“Hungary is an observing member of the Council of Turkic Nations, this connects it among the members with Azerbaijan. Hungary is a hub for automobile manufacturing and is one of the three countries in the World, where all three major German companies (Audi, Mercedes, and BMW) are present. The automobile and car battery production consume lots of energy, so the Azerbaijani-Georgian-Romanian-Hungarian undersea energy connection is an additional source for the manufacturing industry.”

“Aside from the power grid, there will be a communication wire too, which is of interest to Hungarian telecommunication companies. Azerbaijan has become a hub for travels to Russia, where the Hungarian airline WizzAir wants to join in, by providing more connections between Budapest and Baku,” he noted.

The Hungarian energy company MOL wants to increase its production capacity in Azerbaijan, and to transport it via Türkiye to Hungary, to cover the energy needs of the population and manufacturing industry, and to reduce dependency from Russian gas.

“Hungary itself is part of the Chinese New Silk Road, so because of the war, the Middle Corridor via Azerbaijan gets more important and relevant, Hungary wants to use this route to circumvent the war-affected area in its trade with Asia,” he added.