Hungary cannot replace Russian energy in short term, says official
Hungary cannot find alternative energy supplies to replace Russian imports in the short term, Zoltán Kovács, state secretary for international communications and relations, told the BBC on Monday evening.
Kovács said in his interview that any of the current proposals aimed at banning Russian imports would bring the Hungarian economy to a halt and render the everyday lives of Hungarians untenable.
Kovács noted that 65 percent of Hungary’s oil supplies and 85 percent of its gas came through pipelines from Russia.
Hungary is “tied to Russia” by those pipelines, he said, adding that the country would not be able to secure alternatives in the next 3-5 years.
Asked if the Hungarian government was eyeing some form of preferential treatment within the European Union should the bloc impose a ban on Russian oil, Kovács said
the government had not seen the final plans, but added that the government’s position against any such embargo had not changed.
Put to him that Hungary’s position could impact the EU’s uniform stance against the war in Ukraine, Kovács said a reasonable compromise must be reached which is acceptable to all parties, based on a pragmatic approach. The economy cannot be fuelled, vehicles driven, or homes heated by ideology, he insisted.
Source: MTI
4 Comments
As always, MTI pumps out propaganda for the domestic audience and does not choose to tell the full story. This is the current situation with regard to gas since yesterday: “After a meeting of EU energy ministers, Simson (European Commissioner for energy) said that all the energy ministers had accepted that paying in roubles through the mechanism set out by Russia would breach sanctions imposed by the bloc after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
She added that she had not heard of any European energy company that was preparing to comply with Moscow despite suggestions to the contrary from Gazprom and firms such as MOL of Hungary.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/02/eu-to-reject-moscow-demands-to-pay-roubles-for-russian-gas
We clearly made the right choices all of these years. Hungary is Sovereign and Independent!
@ tividar
And totally under Putin’s thumb!
@Anonymous – there’s no such thing as a free lunch. We wouldn’t want to get on Mr. Putin’s bad side now, would we?
Talking great deals, don’t forget Russia’s Rosatom is also helping us with the two new reactors at the Paks power nuclear plant!