Orbán’s cabinet ‘cementing’ Hungary’s Russian energy dependence, says LMP

The government will “cement” Hungary’s dependence on Russian energy if it has Russian energy giant Gazprom build the alternative southern natural gas pipeline that will transport gas to Hungary, a board member of green opposition LMP said on Tuesday.

Péter Ungár noted that last month Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó signed an agreement with Gazprom’s CEO on the preparatory work to build the Hungarian section of the pipeline by the end of 2019.

Ungár said LMP had filed a public data request with the foreign ministry for the agreement but was told that the two sides had only signed a “feasibility plan” but not an actual contract. The politician said he also intends to release this document to the public, adding that he would sue the ministry if it did not release it.

Ungár noted Hungary’s reliance on Russian gas imports and that Hungary is upgrading its sole nuclear power plant in Paks with a loan from Russia. He said this contradicted the government’s earlier promises to diversify Hungary’s gas supplies.

Source: MTI