“Key” to this development was the unplanned trip of the Hungarian foreign minister to Moscow in July.
THE Hungarya member country of the European Union, announced yesterday Saturday that the Russia he began to deliver to her larger quantities of natural gas than was foreseen in pre-existing bilateral trade agreements, following the visit of the country’s foreign minister to Moscow in July.
The Hungarian Foreign Ministry explained that negotiations with Moscow “they allowed us to reach an agreement” as a result of which the Russian company Gazprom began to deliver from yesterday Friday “higher quantities than those mentioned in the contract”.
“It is the duty of the Hungarian government to guarantee the country’s safe supply of gas, and we are rising to the occasion,” said via Facebook a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tamas Mentser.
By the end of August, an additional 2.6 million cubic meters per day will arrive from the south via the Turkstream pipeline, he said, adding that negotiations are underway for September supplies.
THE Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó made an unscheduled visit to Moscow in July to discuss it purchase of 700 million cubic meters of gas in additionon top of the 4.5 billion that Budapest supplied annually before the conflict in Ukraine broke out.
“In the light of what we know about the current state of the European market, it is clear that securing such a large quantity would be impossible without Russian sources,” commented Mr. Mentzer, referring to Mr. Sciarto’s trip.
The European Union began implementing a plan this week to reduce gas consumption by 15% in its member states to counter the spike in energy prices attributed to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
Some EU member countries, however, expressed reservations regarding the strict observance of the directive, which in any case speaks of a “voluntary reduction of demand”.
Hungary, which depends on gas supplied directly via pipelines from Russia, has requested exemption status.
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