Hungarian diplomacy has announced an agreement with Russia to increase gas supplies in line with requests made by Budapest in July ahead of winter.
Hungary’s Foreign Ministry said on 13 August that talks with Russia had led to an “agreement” that would allow Gazprom to increase gas supplies to the country through the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which supplies Hungary via Serbia.
“It is the duty of the Hungarian government to ensure a reliable supply of gas to the country and we are ready for this,” a senior ministry official, Tamas Mencer, added on Facebook.
He said that an additional 2.6 million cubic metres of gas will flow through the Turkish Stream daily until the end of August, adding that negotiations are underway for November.
In July, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó traveled to Moscow to demand an additional 700 million cubic metres of gas, in addition to the 4.5 billion delivered each year to Budapest before the conflict in Ukraine.
85 per cent dependent on Russian gas, Hungary is vehemently opposed to any European energy sanctions, and is cautiously supported on this issue by several other countries that fear for their supplies. Viktor Orban has also lobbied for an exemption from EU sanctions on Russian crude imports.
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