Hankook agrees on EUR 120 million credit facility with Hungary´s Eximbank
Hungary´s Export-Import Bank Zrt. will provide a pre-financing credit facility for Hankook´s Hungarian subsidiary along with three other Hungarian banks. The agreement was signed on Monday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Budapest.
The EUR 120 million credit facility will be used for the expansion of the tyre manufacturer's Rácalmás plant.
Roland Nátrán, the CEO of Eximbank, said the South Korean company's increasing export volume is expected to increase Hungary's total GDP by HUF 70 billion.
Raiffaisen, Unicredit and K&H will provide EUR 115 million to the deal, while EUR 5 million will be provided by Eximbank.
László Szabó, State Secretary for foreign affairs and economy, said the agreement is a significant step for both parties. He stressed that 75 percent of Hankook's Hungarian suppliers are local SMEs, including hundreds of enterprises.
He added that the South Korean tyre manufacturer's investments in Hungary has amounted to over EUR 2 billion. Currently 66 South Korean companies employ 22,000 people in Hungary, he added.
Szabó said that besides manufacturing top-quality products, South Korean companies have an important role in research and development and education, so their role is also important from the aspect of knowledge transfer.
Lee Sang Il, the CEO of Hankook Hungary, said after signing the agreement that the company has kept its promise and is still present on the Hungarian market after seven years and expanding production capacity.
He said the Hungary-based plant is a success story for the company, manufacturing over 12 million tyres every year. "We are headed the right direction in making the Rácalmás plant the largest tyre factory in Europe," added the CEO.
From the aspect of revenues, Hankook is the seventh largest tyre manufacturer in the world. The company has 14,000 employees worldwide, including 3,500 people in Hungary. The company exports its products to 185 countries, while almost 80 percent of its revenues in Hungary are resulting from exports.
