Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the CEO of Russia’s Gazprom has reaffirmed his long-term commitment to continuing the operations of the TurkStream pipeline and maintaining gas supplies to Hungary, adding that Hungary’s gas supplies were secure despite the current crisis.
Following talks with Alexey Miller in Moscow on Wednesday, Minister Szijjártó said the energy supply crisis in Europe raised serious concerns about the coming heating season but added that “it is at least as important how supplies for Europe could be secured in the next two to three winters since delivery via the northern routes has, in fact, become impossible”. TurkStream is the only remaining route with uninterrupted gas delivery from Russia, “which has proven that it was worthwhile to construct it”, the foreign ministry quoted Szijjártó as saying. Gazprom will “shift the focus of its supplies” from the north to the southern route, and will also redirect smaller supplies to Hungary via Austria to TurkStream, Szijjártó said. “This will make Hungary’s energy supply even more secure,” he added. Szijjártó noted that TurkStream’s components had been made in Russia, therefore their maintenance was not hindered by European Union sanctions.
Minister Szijjártó said an agreement between Hungary and Gazprom to ensure deferred payment for gas supplies would be signed on Thursday.