Hungary and Russia have already found solutions on three of the four problems that arose in connection with the US sanctions against Gazprombank, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary Péter Szijártó announced at a hearing in the Economic Commission of the National parliament.
He noted that this decision of the American administration seriously affected Hungary in four directions of payments, which until recently passed through Gazprombank. According to him, this affected the transactions for the supply of Russian nuclear fuel for the Paksh NPP, for the transit of gas through the territory of two neighboring countries, as well as for the purchase of gas under contracts with Gazprom.
Scijarto said he discussed these issues in Moscow on December 2 with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is in charge of energy issues in the government, as well as representatives of major Russian energy companies. "We found solutions to three out of four problems. In one case, we already have a legal basis for two competing legal structures, from which we will choose the best one”, said the head of the MFA, whose speech at the hearing was broadcast on the parliament's website.
Earlier, he announced that the next payment for Russian gas supplies to Hungary is scheduled for December 20 and a solution will be found by that date. According to his words, during the negotiations in Moscow, the Russian partners assured him that they are interested in preserving the arrangements and continuing the gas supplies. Szijjártó noted that lawyers specializing in sanctions, energy and finance issues are looking for optimal ways out of this situation.
Hungary still receives most of its gas from Russia under long-term contracts with Gazprom. In 2022 the "Turkish Stream" gas pipeline and its branches through Bulgaria and Serbia have delivered 4.8 billion to the country. cube m of fuel. According to Hungarian data, in 2023 this figure will grow to 5.6 billion. cube m. As Sijarto noted earlier, in 2024 by the end of October, Hungary had received 6.2 billion cube m of natural gas from Russia.