Hungary to start receiving gas from north

Hungary has reached a political agreement on potential gas deliveries from a new LNG terminal under construction in Gdansk, in northern Poland, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Karpacz on Wednesday.

The entry of Hungarian oil and gas company MOL onto the Polish market and Polish peer Orlen’s presence in Hungary provides a good basis for energy cooperation between the two countries, Szijjártó said after talks with Anna Moskwa, Poland’s energy affairs minister.

Hungary and Poland intend to expand their cooperation from fuel trade to gas purchases, he said, adding that the construction of a new liquefied natural gas terminal in Gdansk that will be used to export an annual 4-4.5 billion cubic metres of gas provided a new resource for diversification.

Szijjártó and Moskwa:

This gives Hungary an opportunity to have a new gas delivery route, Szijjártó said, noting the existing interconnectors between Poland and Slovakia and between Slovakia and Hungary. This means that there is a possibility to deliver significant volumes of gas annually along this route, he added.

Hungarian state-owned energy company MVM had signalled its intent to contract capacity from the terminal, Szijjártó said, adding that the binding phase for booking capacity had started in September.

The minister said he and Moskwa had agreed that Poland would provide all the necessary political support to expanding bilateral energy cooperation to gas deliveries.

He added, at the same time, that there was a lot more to discuss in the coming weeks concerning the terms of delivery and the technical details.

“This adds to the country’s energy security, which is particularly important amid the current times of energy crisis in Europe,” Szijjártó said.

He noted that Hungary has also signed gas purchase agreements with Azerbaijan, Turkiye and Qatar, but it was clear that the energy infrastructure in south-eastern Europe did not have the capacity to handle these delivery volumes. “We hope this will change in the future,” he added.

Though the European Union is not willing to provide necessary financing, Hungary is working closely with the south-eastern European countries on expanding the capacities, the minister said.

Featured image: illustration

Read also:

• FM Szijjártó: Unfair to accuse Hungary of being pro-Russian
• Official: Hungarian government extends crisis status