All gas storage reserves in Hungary are fully topped up, guaranteeing domestic supplies for the winter, Foreign and Trade Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday in Moscow.
“The situation of Hungary’s energy supply is at a turning point,” the minister said after meeting Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller. “Never before has every single gas storage facility been completely full,” he said, adding that 6.3 billion cubic meters of gas is now being stored in Hungarian gas storage facilities.
“For the coming winter, Hungary’s gas supply has never been as safe and secure,” Szijjártó said.
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He also noted that Hungarian energy company MVM and the Hungarian state were making money on the back of Gazprom renting 950 million cubic meters of gas storage for supplies to the south and west, he added.
Szijjártó said he had agreed with his Russian partners on starting “substantive” talks concerning supplies for 2020-2021. “We are now in a position to plan about a year and a half ahead,” he said.
Bulgaria’s authorities have signed the export permit under which Russian gas could be transported to Hungary vial Bulgaria and Serbia, the minister said, adding that an annual 10 billion cubic metres of gas could be obtained through that route.
Featured photo illustration by Attila Balázs/MTI