The contract for the supply of natural gas to Hungary is on schedule and running smoothly, said Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó on Facebook on Wednesday.
A politician based in New York said there had been several reports in recent hours that Gazprom had cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
The Minister emphasized that a significant part of the natural gas supply to Hungary, 3.5 billion cubic meters per year, ie approximately 10 million cubic meters per day, arrives in Hungary via the so-called southern route, Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia.
In this respect, the news that Gazprom’s supply to Bulgaria has stopped has been disturbing, he added.
“However, the news that Gazprom is not supplying gas to Bulgaria is true. According to Gazprom, transit, ie transport through Bulgaria, to Serbia or Hungary is independent. Gazprom has a contract with a different Bulgarian company for the delivery of quantities to Bulgaria and for transit shipments,” said Szijjártó.
He added that according to the information of Magyar Földgázszállító Zrt.
“I would like to reassure everyone that not delivering gas to Bulgaria does not mean stopping transit through Bulgaria,” he said.
“Of course, we will also consult with our Bulgarian partners tomorrow, but for the time being, everyone involved has confirmed this information,” said Péter Szijjártó.
The minister recalled that Gazprom is switching to a different method of payment: a company called Gazprom Export is asking for the price of gas in rubles.
“However, we have found a solution that allows us to transfer the price of gas in euros to our euro account with Gazprom Bank, which will be converted into rubles by Gazprom Bank and which will be transferred to Gazprom Export,” he said.
Szijjártó indicated that “according to the news published yesterday, our Slovak friends and colleagues will pay in the same way, at least the Slovak Minister of Economy, who is in charge of energy matters, said this. By the way, our next payment obligation will be on May 22.”
“I would like to reassure everyone that the natural gas supply to Hungary is proceeding smoothly according to the contract and schedule,” the minister said.
MTI
