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The government sees Debrecen as a “companion capital” and wants to continue to participate in the city’s development, Construction and Transportation Minister János Lázár said on Wednesday.

Speaking after a meeting of a working group established to coordinate economic developments in the city, Hungary’s second largest, Lázár said the government aimed to put Debrecen among Europe’s 30 biggest industrial hubs. The government has ploughed HUF 500bn into developments there so far, including HUF 300bn at a business zone in the northwest of the city, home to BMW’s new factory, and HUF 200bn at an industrial zone in the south, he added.

He said everything was in place to allow the start of vehicle production in the city in 2025.

New roads to be built

He said a bypass to the east of Debrecen would be completed by 2029, while a road running to the northeast of the city would be turned into a dual carriageway, and the rail line to Nyíregyháza, to the north, would be reconstructed in the framework of a HUF 320bn investment.

He added that private capital would be involved in the reconstruction of Debrecen’s main train station which would become home to a number of commercial businesses.

He said a HUF 150bn stretch of the M4 motorway, between Törökszentmiklós and Kisújszállás, would be completed by the end of 2025 or early 2026. Afterward, a stretch extending to Berettyóújfalu, connecting with the M35 motorway, will be built, he added.