The town of Sátoraljaújhely is the easternmost economic and commercial centre of the region of development that is being created in North-Hungary. The history of the town goes back to the 9th century, when the Magyar tribes settled down in the present day territory of Hungary.

Zemplén county became part of the administrative system created by the first Hungarian king with its county seat being Sátoraljaújhely. The town was granted its preferential status in 1261. In addition to its administrative role the town has played a significant role in the Hungarian business life being a Commercial centre of the world famous Tokaj vinicultural region. Beyond this the 19th c. economic development enhanced the position of the town in the economic life of the country.

The prosperity of the 21.000-strong town was due to its favourable geographical proximity: it is situated at the meeting point of the northern bordering region of the Great Plain ( Bodrogköz ) and the foot of the Zemplén mountains, which lended preferential agglomerational conditions to it. However, the development of the town was hindered by the 1920 peace Treaty in Trianon, France, which meant that the town became a bordercrossing point entailing a peripheral role. This was further strengthened by a decision in 1950 which declared the end of the role of the town as a county-seat.

The political and economic transformation of the country that started in 1989 gave the town and the villages in its adjacent area a chance to revive the economic and commercial links with Eastern-Slovakia and the Sub-Carpathian region in Ukraine, which were slumbering for seven decades.

Since 1994 Sátoraljaújhely has made a home for the trilateral economic cooperation: the Association for Carpathian Borderregion Economic Development, which is unique within the Carpathians Euroregion.

In 1990s saw the establishment of enterprise and investment relations between the town with its surrounding area and US, German, French, British, Italian, Spanish and Dutch partners, who recognized the opportunities offered by the privatization and the green-field investment.

The success of the existing joint ventures comes from the natural resources of the town and the Zemplén region ( Tokaj viniculture, forestry, rare minerals, tourist attractions of the natural environment ) and the man-made facilities ( machine industry, tobacco industry, garment trade, timber, wood, and furniture industry, food industry ) which are well supplemented by the relatively cheap, but qualified, industrious labour force in the region.

In addition to its traditionally preferential geographical situation, the regional development work has recently improved the conditions in Sátoraljaújhely for capital investment and enterprise, which is further enhanced by the fact that the Zemplén Enterprise Zone offers preferential taxation for investors.

The industrial park was established in an 88 hectare territory in the south-eastern part of the town by the Local Administration of Sátoraljaújhely and 24 companies, which either own a property or run a business in this territory. The Local Administration together with the Eastern – Hungarian Regional Development Company has established a company; the Sátoraljaújhely Industrial Park Ltd, which will be operating the industrial park.

In addition to the operating ventures, the industrial park offers the following to the entrepreneurs: some 12 thousand square metre workshop structure ( the former ELZETT Tinfactory ), five former industrial premises with 200-1000 square metre workshops and buildings and 25 hectare green field territory for investment.

In 1998 the project was granted the “industrial park” title in consequence to a successful tender invited by the ministry.

Every infrastructural meeting point can be found in the territory of the park. The development plans for the missing infrastructure have been prepared and their implementation has been started funded by successful tenders.

The value of the development started in 1998 is over 1,5 billion HUF and facilitate the creation of some 300 new jobs. The negotations with investors, which have started, and the sale of the former Elzett factory predict further significant investment and job possibilities.

The Infrastructure of the Industrial Park

The route to the park from Budapest follows M3 motorway to Füzesabony ( by the year 2000 to Polgár ) then the main road No.3 to Miskolc and then from here road No.37 to Sátoraljaújhely.

The bordercrossing point next to the town offers a direct access to Eastern-Slovakia and through the lowest pass of the Carpathians ( Dukla, 502 metres ) to Southeast Poland. Ukraine can be reached through the Bodrogköz and the main road no.4 (T1) through Záhony.

Railway infrastructure: The railway station of the Hungarian Railways can be found within the park. There are industrial rails as well loading areas which facilitate the logistical activities in the park. In the town there is a bordercrossing point for freight trains, which offers a direct contact for freight transport from the east to Western Europe as a result of the direct trains from the Ukrainian Slovakian border (Tiszacsernyő) to Amsterdam.

Air transport: Within 10 kms from the industrial park in Sárospatak there is a grass surface airport that is operated temporarily, which is suitable for receiving four seater sports airoplanes. In Kosice, Slovakia (cca.70 kms) and in Uzhgorod, Ukraine (cca.90 kms) there are concrete airports for schedulded in-country flights.  ( The airport transfer service can be arranged by order. )

Communication: The cable telephone, the ISDN and the other informational services ( Internet ) are provided in the town and the villages of the region through the digital switchboards built up by the MATÁV. The mobile phone companies are also present in the region, which means that every mobile phone network can be used here. The pregrammes of the regional television and radio station are broadcast in the town and beyond, within a 50 km transmission area.

Public utilities:

• Electric energy: mid-voltage network ( 20 and 35 KW ) is available at several points of the park. The electric supply company ( ÉMÁSZ ) has always provided the necessary amount of energy and is able to satisfy new demands, too.
• Gas supply: DN315 gas supply network, with a pressure of 6 bars has a point of access created in the park.
• Commercial and industrial water supply: the existing NA 300 waterpipe network is available. Wells can be bored for industrial water supply.
• Drainage system: the system has been partly established in the park, the sewage transfer and purification plant can be found nearby. The rain water is drained off through the Ó-Ronyva canal to the river Bodrog.
• Internal road network: the southern relief road by – passing the town runs in the park, which together with the roads serving the city-transport offers a good access to the premises within the park.

Constructional regulaitons:

• Construction region: according to the General Plan of Town Planning and Development the territory of the industrial park is an industrial area.
• Permitted building area: the General Plan of Town Planning and Development allows 30% of the territory to be built up.

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