Hungary is ready to supply gas to Slovakia amid the termination of transit of Russian gas via Ukraine, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said, adding that Kyiv’s decision to ban the pumping of gas from Russia is unacceptable, APA-Economics reports citing TASS.
For ensuring Slovakia’s energy security, it could be possible to deliver there certain volumes of gas, which are supplied to Hungary from Russia via the TurkSteam pipeline and its branches in Bulgaria and Serbia, the minister said. "We are still ready to fully use our transit capacity to ensure provision of energy to Slovakia," he told a press conference.
Last year Hungary received 7.6 bln cubic meters of gas via TurkStream while the capacity of the gas pipeline and its extension in the northern direction totals 8.5 bln cubic meters, Szijjarto noted, adding that the spare capacity equals around 900 mln cubic meters. That said, Hungary and Slovakia will boost the capacity of the pipeline between the two countries in the same volume, which the minister believes will allow ensuring the energy security of Slovakia that no longer receives Russian gas through Ukraine.
Speaking about Kyiv’s decision to terminate transit of Russian gas to Central European countries from January 1, he said that it "threatens the region’s energy security." "It is unacceptable when a candidate for membership of the European Union creates problems with energy supply to EU members," Szijjarto said.
