Hungary is in talks with Russia and Ukraine to maintain gas deliveries via Ukraine, even though its Russian gas imports now go through the Turkstream pipeline, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday, adding that he did not want to give up this route.
This gas pipeline, which passes through Ukraine, is one of the last major routes for transporting Russian gas to Europe, but it is expected to close at the end of the year, kyiv not wishing to extend a transit agreement of five years which transports gas to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria.
“We are trying a trick (…): what if the gas, at the moment it enters the territory of Ukraine, was no longer Russian, but already belonged to the buyers? “So, the gas entering Ukraine would no longer be Russian gas, but Hungarian gas.
Mr Orban said discussions were ongoing and it was not certain whether partner Russia and Ukraine would accept this solution, but that Hungary would not give up the Ukrainian gas transit route.
This year, Hungary imported some 7.5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas via the Turkstream pipeline and additional quantities via Romania. It also has national production of around 1 to 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas, Orban said.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico warned of a gas crisis on Friday as Ukraine continued to refuse to expand the transit of natural gas through its territory due to the war.
