Hungarian FM: Gazprom reaffirms commitment to continuing supplies to Hungary

The CEO of Russia’s Gazprom has reaffirmed his long-term commitment to continuing the operations of the TurkStream pipeline and maintaining gas supplies to Hungary, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Moscow on Wednesday night, adding that Hungary’s gas supplies were secure despite the current crisis.

Following talks with Alexey Miller, Szijjártó said the energy supply crisis in Europe raised serious concerns about the coming heating season, but added that “it is at least as important how supplies for Europe could be secured in the next two to three winters since delivery via the northern routes has in fact become impossible”. TurkStream is the only remaining route with uninterrupted gas delivery from Russia, “which has proven that it was worthwile to construct it”, the foreign ministry quoted Szijjártó as saying.

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Concerning the goal of his Moscow visit, Szijjártó said he had wanted to “ascertain that a long-term cooperation with Hungary is also in Gazprom’s interest and to get their commitment for a long time cooperation with us”.

Gazprom will “shift the focus of its supplies” from north to the southern route, and will also redirect smaller supplies to Hungary via Austria to TurkStream, Szijjártó said. “This will make Hungary’s energy supply even more secure,” he added.

Szijjártó noted that TurkStream’s components had been made in Russia, therefore their maintenance was not hindered by European Union sanctions. He quoted Miller as saying that procedures by Dutch authorities were not jeopardising the pipeline’s operation.

Referring to Gazprom’s commitment to ensuring predictable supplies to Hungary in the long run, Szijjártó said “everybody could be quite certain that no restrictions will be necessary in Hungary in terms of gas consumption”.

Szijjártó said an agreement between Hungary and Gazprom to ensure deferred payment for gas supplies would be signed on Thursday.

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Source: MTI