Hungary strikes deal with Gazprom to defer payment for gas: FM

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Hungary has secured a final agreement with Gazprom to postpone payments for Russian gas, according to Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who met with Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller in Moscow on Wednesday. He is also in charge of Hungary's international energy cooperation.

"In order to improve financial conditions, Gazprom Export’s director general will sign an agreement tomorrow to defer payment [for Russian gas], so that our payment terms will become more favorable," Szijjarto said in a video posted on his Facebook page.

A new gas supply route

Szijjarto further stated that Russian gas supplies to Hungary will be rerouted from the Western route to the Southern route via the TurkStream gas pipeline.

"Today we have agreed that Russian gas that was initially went to Hungary through northern routes, will be redirected to the southern route, so in the near future Hungary will receive gas daily and we can be sure that there will be no restrictions for the use of natural gas in Hungary," he said.

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"It is the southern transport route that currently supplies Hungary, so if Gazprom focuses on southern European transport routes, this will make Hungary’s energy supply even more reliable and safe," he went on. He expressed hope that "the southern transport route will not have to face the difficulties that have made the operation of the northern transport route almost impossible."

"The TurkStream gas pipeline will play an even greater role in the energy supply of South-Eastern and Central Europe in the coming period," Szijjarto believes. He noted that the northern route of gas supplies through Austria "is now only 30% operational due to problems with the northern pipelines."

Hungary opposes new sanctions

Szijjarto also said Hungary would not allow new sanctions against Russia in the energy sector. "From Hungary there will be no restrictions on the use of natural gas," the Minister assured.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister arrived in Moscow after attending an informal meeting of EU energy ministers in Prague. On the day of the summit, he stated that Hungary would not accept the imposition of a price cap on Russian gas since it would jeopardize Europe's energy security. Because the meeting in Prague was consultative in nature, no decisions were made or expected on this matter.

The Hungarian government announced in July plans to purchase additional 700 million cubic meters of gas from Russia to ensure the security of the country's energy supply in the coming months.

Hungary signed a contract in late August with Gazprom for a two-month period to supply an additional 5.8 million cubic meters of gas per day from September 1.