Hungary is ready to provide financial support to German automaker Audi to help its manufacturing plant in the country run at full operating capacity, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Monday as he visited the site.
Orban said the automaker was important to the Hungarian economy’s recovery from the adverse impacts of the coronavirus crisis.
“We have to fight for the Audi plant as well,” Orban said according to state news agency MTI.
MTI said Audi’s engine and auto manufacturing plant located in the western Hungarian city of Gyor got back to normal operation with three shifts on Monday following weeks of disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The government and automakers had enforced shutdowns of factories to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. About 4,076 people in Hungary have been confirmed as being infected with the coronavirus. The virus has killed 563 people in the country.
“We can protect jobs with agreements,” Viktor Orban said. Orban did not elaborate on the details of support for the automaker, which employed 12,807 people at the end of the last year and is one of Hungary’s top exporters and revenue earners.
Audi has made no comment on the report.
Last year, it was reported Audi will boost the production of engines at its Hungarian factory to 2.25 million units from 2020.
