Hungary is said to have resolved most of the payment problems caused by US sanctions against Russia's Gazprombank.
Budapest and Moscow have resolved most of the problems caused by the Gazprombank sanctions, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told a hearing before the parliament's economic committee on December 3, RT reported.
Washington's announcement of sanctions in late November led to a freeze on Russian gas payments and transit fees, disrupting supplies to Hungary and Slovakia.
"We have found solutions to three out of four problems," Foreign Minister Szijjarto told the Hungarian parliament.
Mr. Szijjarto explained that the US decision “seriously affects” payments that Hungary has made to Gazprombank, including for gas purchased under contracts from Gazprom, transit fees through two neighboring countries, as well as Russian fuel for the Paks nuclear power plant.
“Those who insist that we should not buy Russian gas either want to make money by selling their more expensive gas, or simply do not know what the energy transport map of the world and our region looks like,” said Mr. Szijjarto.
Mr. Szijjarto also noted the nature of such calls from Western European countries, which continue to buy Russian raw materials.
"Why did France increase its imports of Russian liquefied natural gas by 110% in the first half of this year? Why did 87% of Russian LNG arriving in French ports go to Belgium and Spain? While Russia's share in India's oil imports has increased 70-fold, why did Germany increase its imports from India by 11-fold? I wonder why this is so?" - the Foreign Minister pointed out.
“If we are talking about the country’s energy security, we must take into account the reliability of supply and competitive prices, not the commercial interests of those who want to import more expensive energy sources into Hungary,” Szijjarto stressed.
He confirmed that Hungary is looking to diversify its gas supply sources and routes and has started receiving fuel from Azerbaijan and Turkey for this purpose, but still relies on long-term contracts with Russian partners to ensure energy security.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister was in Moscow on December 2, holding talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak and representatives of Russian energy companies.
He said Russian partners assured him that they would be interested in continuing gas supplies and maintaining existing agreements. Sanctions, energy and finance lawyers are working out the best way to navigate the current situation.
Hungary has a long-term contract with Gazprom and receives most of its gas from Russia. As of the end of October, Budapest imported more than 6.2 billion cubic meters of Russian gas, compared with 5.6 billion in 2023 and 4.8 billion in 2022. The gas mainly comes via the TurkStream gas pipeline and its branches running through Bulgaria and Serbia.
The next energy payment for Russia will be due to December 20. Hungary said it would find a solution on that day.
