In a statement issued by his ministry, Szijjarto said the deliveries from Shell would start in 2026.

After meeting with Shell VP Bob Kijkuit, he said the contract was the biggest and the longest one Hungary had ever signed with a Western supplier. "This is genuine diversification, that doesn't replace existing sources, but adds new ones to those we have," he added.

Szijjarto said Shell was a "dependable partner" with a hundred-year presence in Hungary and around 200 petrol stations.

Szijjarto: Hungary seeks to add to, not replace energy sources

Hungary's government aims to add new sources of energy to its supply, not replace existing ones, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said at the Gastech conference in Milan on Tuesday, his ministry said in a statement.

"Do we want to buy more energy from more sources? Yes. Today we will announce the signing of a new long-term contract with Shell," Szijjarto said.

"The contract will be for the largest volume and for the longest term of any Hungary has ever signed with a Western supplier," he added.

Szijjarto said the European Union's REPowerEU programme, in its current form, would "completely ruin" the security of Hungary's energy supply as infrastructure attributes did not allow the country to cut off its Russian energy.

He explained that Hungary was land-locked and pipeline capacity from other directions could not ensure sufficient supply. "The reasons are geographical and physical, not political or ideological," he added.

He highlighted efforts Hungary had made to build energy interconnectors, resulting in ones with six of its seven neighbours. He also noted that the European Commission had rejected a request made several years earlier by Hungary and other countries to expand pipeline capacity in Southeastern Europe.

"Gas is not in fashion, they want to gradually phase it out," he added.

Fidesz MEP: EU displaying double standard in readiness to finance Ukraine's Russian gas purchases

Double standards in Brussels are "in the stratosphere" as the European Commission underpins the financing of Ukraine's purchases of Russian natural gas, Fidesz MEP Andras Gyurk said on Monday.

In a statement, Gyurk noted that the commission announced in August that Ukraine will receive a 500 million euro European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) loan guaranteed by the EU for purchasing gas, adding that the most Ukrainian gas imports ultimately came from Russia.

Banning Russian gas imports into the European Union at the same time, he said, was "absurd", adding that he had turned to the commission with questions aimed at clarifying the matter

The commission, Gyurk said, not only harmed the competitiveness of EU member states with measures which put upward pressure on energy prices, it also subsidised the purchase of energy by countries outside the EU.

Brussels, he said, was endangering the energy supply security of several member states, including Hungary, while financially supporting Ukraine's purchase of natural gas of Russian origin. "This is an obvious double standard," the MEP declared.

As well as answering Hungary's questions, "we expect Brussels to review its proposal to ban Russian gas imports," Gyurk said.
 

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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