Hungary’s government wants to guarantee the country’s energy security by ordering delivery of additional gas from Gazprom.
Russian energy company Gazprom has started delivery of additional gas to Hungary on Friday, Tamás Menczer, state secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced in a Facebook post on Saturday. He explained that this delivery is above the volume which is stipulated in Hungary’s long-term contract.
The State Secretary recalled that the Hungarian government had decided to procure an additional 700 million cubic meters of gas to ensure Hungary’s energy supply. This was the main topic of the negotiations between Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, held in Moscow
Menczer explained that Gazprom will deliver a daily 2.6 million cubic meters of the additional gas through the Turkish Stream pipeline until the end of this month. Negotiations are underway about the September schedule.
“Europe is facing a serious energy crisis because of the war in our neighborhood and the sanctions. Despite the dramatic rise in gas prices, the question is no longer how much gas costs, but whether there will be enough to last the winter,”
the State Secretary stressed.
According to Menczer, “Hungary is a leader in filling gas storage facilities at the consumption rate, and a level above 32 percent would be sufficient in normal times – especially as the European average is below 20 percent – but unfortunately we are not living in normal times, so we need to be absolutely sure.”
Featured photo via Pixabay
