UN, Oct 28 Hungary is ready to discuss the prospects for supplying Russian gas to Budapest through the Turkish Stream if Moscow and Kiev will not agree on extending transit through Ukraine after 2024, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said in an interview.
Answering the question about whether Hungary is ready to stop the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine if the transit contract between Moscow and Kiev expires in 2024, Szijjártó noted that Ukraine has large incomes under this agreement. “And I’m not entirely sure that Ukraine is ready to lose so much income. But I don’t want to comment on this, because this is not Hungary, but this is a sovereign country. They decide as they want,” the minister said.
«But I know that the Turkish Stream pipeline has enormous capacity. Its capacity from Serbia to Hungary is 8.5 billion cubic meters. Thus, in principle, the long-term contract can be fulfilled, and the volume that was fixed in the long-term contract , can also be easily delivered through this pipeline, because according to our long-term contract, Gazprom Export must annually supply 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas to Hungary,” said the head of the Foreign Ministry.
Answering the question whether Hungary is ready to change the gas delivery route if necessary, Szijjártó noted that if the transit contract between Ukraine and Russia is not renewed, Budapest will have to make changes to the contract with Gazprom Export. “Because our current contract states that a smaller part is supplied via this route, namely 1 billion cubic meters of gas, which we buy annually from Gazprom Export. And it comes to Hungary from Austria,” he said.
«So, if necessary, we are ready to discuss the methodology, because we consider this as a technical issue. It's not a matter of delivery. It's not a matter of quantity, but a route. For us, it doesn't matter. So, if this technical issue needs to be discussed, we will definitely discuss it, but we are not at that stage yet,” Szijjártó said.