Commenting on reports that Russia had stopped deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria, Szijjártó said some 3.5 billion cubic meters of gas arrive in Hungary via Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia every year, which was a “significant” portion of the country’s annual consumption.

While Russia has stopped delivering the gas intended for consumption in Bulgaria, transits are untouched by the measure, he said on Facebook. “I would like to put everyone’s mind at ease: the suspension of deliveries to Bulgaria does not include transits across the country,” he said.

Meanwhile, Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom has decided to request payments in roubles, in view of the sanctions hitting Russia due to the war in Ukraine.

“We have found a solution where [Hungary] will pay in euros to an account set up at Gazprom Bank, which will then exchange it to roubles and transfer it to Gazprom Export,” Szijjártó said. Slovakia has chosen the same method of payment, according to a statement of the Slovak economy minister on Tuesday, Szijjártó said.

Szijjártó: Bulgarian, Serbian Energy Ministers Confirm Russian Gas Supplies Undisturbed

The Bulgarian and Serbian ministers in charge of energy affairs have confirmed that Russian gas supplies through Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia to Hungary were undisturbed and in line with contract, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade said in New York on Wednesday.

Péter Szijjártó said the Serbian minister had assured him that the contracted volume of gas arrived in Serbia and would partly be forwarded to Hungary, the foreign ministry quoted Szijjártó as saying.

Szijjártó said that Bulgarian energy minister Alexander Nikolov had confirmed to him that the contracts on transits would continue to be observed.

Checking the situation personally on Wednesday afternoon CET, Szijjártó found that everything was on schedule with the supply of daily 10 million cubic metres of gas to Hungary.

“For the time being, the operation of the transit route seems to be undisturbed but we will closely monitor the situation and keep in touch with our Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian counterparts,” he said.

Szijjártó reiterated that a significant part of gas supplies arrived in Hungary on the southern route and so it was a major development that Gazprom had recently stopped supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.

However, operator of the Bulgarian network Bulgartransgaz has confirmed that transit supplies would continue to operate regardless of the move, he said.

Gazprom has also confirmed that gas to Serbia and Hungary would continue to be supplied over the pipeline, he added.


MTI Photo: Tamás Vasvári