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Lavrov to have negotiations with Hungarian foreign minister in Moscow January 23

Under conditions of the sanctions and unfavorable financial and economic situation, the trade turnover between Russia and Hungary in nine months of 2016 went down by 10.2%

MOSCOW, January 21. /TASS/. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Hungary’s minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto at a meeting planned for January 23 will discuss practical questions on the Russian-Hungarian agenda, as well as current international problems, the Russian foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Under conditions of the sanctions and unfavorable financial and economic situation, the trade turnover between Russia and Hungary in nine months of 2016 went down by 10.2% year-on-year to 3.1 billion dollars. Russia’s export to Hungary dropped by 11.9% - to 1.9 billion dollars, import - by 7.2% to 1.2 billion dollars, the foreign ministry said.

"An effective instrument for settling practical tasks in this sphere is the Russian-Hungarian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation," the ministry said. "The commission’s ninth meeting was on June 21-22, 2016 in Budapest, and the next meeting is due this year in Russia."

The foreign ministry pointed to the positive development of relations between the countries and the interest in development of a political dialogue, in expanding of the trade, economic, investment and innovative cooperation, cultural, humanitarian, scientific and technical relations.

"We consider Szijjarto’s visit to Moscow as another stage in development of the intensive political dialogue between Russia and Hungary in the context of preparations for the upcoming contacts on the high level," the Russian foreign ministry said.

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