The foreign minster has revealed that Hungary is forging closer ties with Croatia in order to build better gas cooperation.
Péter Szijjártó said that by making the Croatia-Hungary gas interconnector reverse-flow capable, Croatia will enable Hungary to buy gas from the network by the end of 2019.
The foreign minister made the announcement following talks with Tomislav Coric, Croatia’s minister of Environment and Energy on Saturday. Minister Szijjártó said talks have also started on the price of gas available from the LNG (liquid natural gas) terminal in the Island of Krk.
“It serves Hungary’s national security and economic interests if it has as many resources available as possible to buy sufficient volume of gas for the operation of the economy and also to satisfy private consumers’ demands,” Minister Szijjártó told MT while attending the Dubrovnik Forum.
Reports suggest that when the Hungarian-Russian gas purchase agreement expires at the end of 2020, this will create a completely new situation and it will enable Hungary to involve new resources in its gas supply. “Croatia could become a strategic partner in this respect,” he said.
The LNG terminal in Krk is expected to be completed by the second half of 2020, the minister added. “We made it clear to our Croatian partners that Hungary will buy liquid natural gas from Croatia only if its price is competitive,” he said, adding that in order for Hungary to sign a long-term gas supply agreement Croatia must offer long-term guarantees.