Hungary’s energy security chief criticized the European Union on Wednesday for not providing enough support to help small, landlocked countries transition away from Russian natural gas.
Csaba Marosvari, Hungary’s deputy state secretary for energy security, told attendees at the Gastech conference in Houston that small landlocked states, including Hungary, needed more funds to reduce their dependence on Russian gas.
About two-thirds of Hungary’s gas imports come from Russia, but pressure is mounting for the country, along with some of its neighbours, to diversify more quickly away from Russian energy, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“In our region there are small countries, small markets, few major players in the market, lack of capital, these types of infrastructure and decongestion projects can cost up to hundreds of millions of euros – in terms of the fuel market, it is not possible to implement them,” Marosvari said.
The European Commission’s move towards funding green energy projects to end reliance on fossil fuels has left some countries behind, according to Mr Marosvari.
“Following the war in Ukraine, we have received increasing pressure to diversify more quickly away from Russian fuels, but they are refusing the funds to be able to do so,” he added.
Hungary receives 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia under a 15-year deal signed in 2021.
Mr Marosvari said Hungary had signed short-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) agreements with Azerbaijan and Turkey to reduce its dependence on Russian sources. It also expects Turkey and Greece to become more important suppliers of pipeline gas and LNG in the future.
“You shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket, and that applies to natural gas supplies as well,” Marosvari said.
“The Russians deliver according to the contracts, they are reliable for us, but this does not mean that we should stick to one source, that is why we have implemented a strategy of diversification of supply.
