Hungary in talks with Gazprom on additional gas supplies, minister says

Hungary is in talks with Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom on additional gas supplies next year. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said this in an interview with Russian news agency RIA. He also said Budapest would veto European Union sanctions against Russia if Hungary’s exemption from the ban on buying Russian oil were revoked.

„We have already signed one (additional gas supply agreement) for the final quarter of this year, covering additional volumes at a competitive price. We are now negotiating an agreement for next year,“ the minister said.

Gazprom announced last week that it had signed a memorandum with Hungary on a possible increase in gas sales. However, it did not provide details of the memorandum’s contents, Reuters reported.

Szijjártó told RIA that the memorandum includes provisions for additional agreements to long-term contracts in the coming years, guaranteeing competitive prices. Hungary and Gazprom also signed an agreement last week that will allow them to make full use of the TurkStream gas pipeline. According to the minister, the agreement will enable Hungary to increase the volume of gas it buys under „all commercial contracts“.

Russia currently exports gas to Europe via two routes: through Ukraine and via the TurkStream pipeline, which runs to Turkey, Reuters reported. The agreement on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine expires at the end of this year, and Kyiv has repeatedly said it does not intend to extend it.