Hungarian minister: Turkish Stream – alternative after cessation of gas transit via Ukraine

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjártó has said that Hungary will ensure the security of energy supplies even without gas transit through Ukraine.

“Hungary will ensure the security of energy supplies even without gas transit through Ukraine thanks to the Turkish Stream, but Budapest is open to discussing the issue,” Szijjártó said, Vesti.ru reports.

Ukraine does not intend to renew the agreement with Gazprom on the transit of Russian gas to Europe. The agreement will expire in late 2024. Transit opportunities will remain if the recipient is able to lease the capacity of the Ukrainian gas transmission system.

In particular, Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico and Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal reached a preliminary agreement on the continuation of the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine.

“Meanwhile, supplies of Russian energy resources to Hungary are in a safe zone, taking into account that the country receives a huge volume of gas through the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, and the security of supplies will not be affected after the cessation of transit through Ukraine,” Szijjártó answered a RIA Novosti journalist’s question.

“However, the more sources of energy resources, the better the situation is, so we are open to negotiations,” the minister added.