Minister: Hungary's energy supplies are secured for now, talks continue on supplies from elsewhere

Natural gas supplies to Hungary are not currently at risk, despite ongoing fighting near the Russian city of Sudzha, where the only metering station through which Russian gas is now flowing into the European Union is located. Hungary is also working to secure alternative oil supplies, although it feels it is not receiving sufficient support from the European Commission (EC). Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said this today.

„Energy supplies to Hungary are secured,“ Szijjártó wrote on Facebook.

Supplies via other gas pipelines are currently sufficient, according to the minister. Russian gas company Gazprom supplies gas to Hungary via the TurkStream pipeline through Turkey and Serbia, Reuters reported.

Ukrainian armed forces crossed the border in early August and captured several Russian towns, including Sudzha, through which Russia supplies gas from western Siberia via Ukraine to the European Union. „Gas supplies to Hungary are continuing as planned; the situation (in Sudzha) is not affecting them,“ Szijjártó said.

Gas flows through the Sudzha station remain stable, although Ukraine has said it does not plan to renew or extend the transit contract when it expires at the end of the year.

Szijjártó said talks on finding a solution to Kyiv’s decision from late June this year are in their final stages. Ukraine then unilaterally decided not to allow the transit of oil from Russian company Lukoil, on which Hungary had relied. Kyiv added Lukoil to its sanctions list and then cited this in July as the reason it could not allow oil to transit its territory.

Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline to refineries in Hungary and Slovakia. Both countries, among the few in Europe without access to the sea, warned of possible oil shortages after Kyiv’s announcement.

Szijjártó reiterated that Ukraine had breached its Association Agreement with the European Union by halting Lukoil oil transit supplies bound for Hungary and Slovakia. Despite the European Commission’s unacceptable conduct, talks on securing oil supplies to Hungary are continuing „at full speed,“ he said, according to MTI.

„The talks are nearing their conclusion… so we can say that we have secured oil supplies to Hungary beyond the temporary measures in place for the short and medium term,“ Szijjártó said without elaborating.

The government in Budapest says it has maintained pragmatic relations with Moscow since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This, however, has created tensions with some allies in the European Union who want to take a tougher stance toward Russia.