Gazprom to supply twice as much gas to Hungary from September 1

Hungary signed a contract with the Russian energy company “Gazprom”, according to which the country will receive 5.8 million cubic meters. m of gas per day from September 1, about this informs agency “RIA Novosti” with reference to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto.

According to the head of the department, in August, deliveries to the country were at the level of 2.6 million cubic meters. m of gas per day. Thanks to the new contract, the volume of gas supplied from Russia will more than double. It is specified that additional volumes of gas will be supplied to Hungary through the Turkish Stream and Serbia.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the European Union will fill its underground gas storage facilities (UGS) by 80% in early September, two months ahead of schedule. This result was achieved thanks to the tightening of gas storage regulations, which were adopted after occupancy levels last winter were lower than in previous years, especially in German UGS facilities controlled by Gazprom, which led to a sharp increase in gas prices. Now Germany’s storage facilities are 82.2% full.

As of August 27, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe, Hungary’s UGS facilities are only 62% full, while Portugal’s storage facilities are already fully filled, and Poland’s are almost 100% full. Szijjarto stressed in today’s statement that “Hungary’s energy supply is physically impossible without Russian gas.”

At the end of July, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that Budapest plans to negotiate with Moscow on an additional purchase of 700 million cubic meters. m of gas during the summer to calmly go through the winter. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also announced these plans following a meeting with Szijjártó in Moscow.

Prior to this, Hungary declared a state of emergency in the field of energy amid rising energy prices. As reported in the office of the Prime Minister of the country, this will ensure the generation of sufficient energy during the cold season in conditions when there is not enough gas in European storage facilities.

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