Renegotiating Contract for Russian Gas more than Business

(MTI) – Business considerations will not be the only factors taken into account in Hungary’s renegotiation of its long-term contract for Russian gas, Magyar Foldgazkereskedo (MFGK), the gas trading unit of the state-owned energy company MVM, said in Friday’s issue of business daily Napi Gazdasag.

The question of security of supply and the directives of Hungary’s national gas strategy will also be decisive in the renegotiation of the long-term contract, MFGK told the paper.

MFGK said its officials are negotiating with the company’s partners, but did not reveal any further details about the pace of talks.

Hungary’s contract for delivery of Russian gas was signed in 1996 and expires next year.

The paper noted that the contract includes a take-or-pay clause that requires wholesalers to buy an agreed-on volume of gas even if demand is weak. In the past several years, traders have left almost 2 billion cubic metres of gas deliveries untapped each year as a result, the paper added.

Photo: energiainfo.hu

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters