The foreign minister has revealed that Hungary will begin the legal and infrastructural preparations to buy natural gas from the Turk Stream pipeline once it becomes operational.
According to Rmx.news, Minister Szíjjártó made the announcement following a meeting of the Hungarian-Bulgarian economic commission in Budapest, and said that in the future Hungarian-Bulgarian economic relations will be centered around energy supply.
The Turk Stream pipeline – initiated and built by Russian gas company Gazprom – will deliver 31.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas from the Russkaya compressor station in Russia to Baumgarten in Austria, running through Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary. The part reaching Turkey is expected to come online this year, somewhat ahead of schedule.
The Bulgarian stretch is the most uncertain part of the project as the European Commission ties its approval to an EUR 1.5 billion (US$1.7 billion) fund by the Bulgarian state. However, after the Budapest meeting Bulgarian economics minister Emil Karanikolov said talks about the scheduling of the Bulgarian construction are underway.