RIA: Hungary expects a slight decline in Russian gas purchases this year, minister says

Hungary expects to receive 7.5 to eight billion cubic metres of Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline this year. The RIA Novosti news agency reported this today, citing Hungarian diplomats. The Russian government said on Wednesday that Russia supplied Hungary with 8.6 billion cubic metres of gas last year, Reuters reports. Imports of Russian gas into the European Union rose by 18 percent last year, according to an analysis by the Ember Institute, despite a plan to gradually end imports of fossil fuels from Russia. Italy, the Czech Republic and France accounted for most of the increase.

„If I take the current average daily volume of more than 20 million cubic metres, then the amount via the TurkStream pipeline will be somewhere between 7.5 and eight billion cubic metres. That means we are very close to using 100 percent of the pipeline's capacity,“ said Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, quoted by RIA.

On Thursday, the Ember Institute also said in its analysis that the EU plans to increase its capacity to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 54 percent, even though demand for gas imports is expected to remain stable through 2030 and alternative solutions are available. This risks creating excess infrastructure, the analysis says.

Ember also warns that supplies from foreign sources outside Russia may not be entirely secure. Although the United States is increasing its LNG export capacity, relying on US supplies is risky amid heightened geopolitical tensions. The European Union has proposed plans to finance LNG infrastructure abroad and sign long-term contracts as a way to gradually wean itself off Russian gas, but this could lead to further dependence on potentially unreliable exporters, Ember warns.

Last November, the United States imposed new sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank, one of the country's largest banks, which receives payments for natural gas sales from customers of Russian gas group Gazprom in Europe. Szijjártó said last week that the United States had extended Hungary's sanctions exemption, which allows the country to pay Russia for its gas supplies. Reuters, citing its sources, reported that Washington had also extended the exemption for Turkey and Slovakia, through May.

Slovakia's main gas importer, SPP, said in February that Gazprom had resumed gas supplies to Slovakia, using volumes that Hungary had given up on the TurkStream pipeline. Russian gas flowed into the EU via Ukraine until last year, but Ukraine refused to extend the transit contract. It cited the invasion launched by Russian troops in February 2022.