The pressure to give up Russian gas means, simply, to blow up Hungary’s gas supply, because due to our infrastructure we cannot avoid using it, said, on Wednesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, at a specialized conference.

“We, as a country, depend on others, we depend on the countries that supply gas and the countries where the gas transits. And then the solution is to interconnect with all the others. We have interconnectors with six of the seven neighboring countries. As for Romania, we have just increased the capacity to 2.5 billion cubic meters, reciprocally, which means that transit from Romania can contribute to our security of supply by about a quarter annually. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you one more thing: currently, because of the infrastructure, we cannot avoid using Russian gas. If we give up Russian gas, if we give up their supplies, we are simply not able to supply the country. Our production does not exceed 1.5 billion. So we have to we import 1.8 billion cubic meters, annually. And despite the fact that we have invested a lot in our capacity to be able to import large quantities of gas in case the capacity of neighboring countries is not large enough, it still does not work. With Romania we have equivalent input and output capacity and that is very good. That should be the case in all cases. So pressuring us to give up Russian gas is simply blowing up our gas supply. This is the reality. Considering that we are responsible for the safe supply of the country, we must maintain the relationship”, said Szijjarto, according to Agerpres.

According to the Hungarian official, Bulgaria’s imposition of a tax on gas from Russia may be a danger to the security of supply to both Hungary and Serbia.

“Therefore, the new law in Bulgaria imposes an additional tax of 10 euros on the gas coming from Russia, per megawatt-hour, which can be a danger for the security of supply in our case and for Serbia, because the gas comes through Turkey, through Bulgaria, through Hungary. We, as a landlocked country, are dependent on source countries and transit countries. This is why this word, solidarity, which we keep using in the European Union, really needs to be taken seriously No member state of the European Union should endanger the security of another country’s supply. We saw how the collaboration with Romania was. We needed the help of other countries and we must be sure that the other country will help us,” he added.

The Oil and Gas Employers’ Federation (FPPG), under the high patronage of the Ministry of Energy, organized, between 7 and 8 November, the 6th edition of the event Romanian International Gas Conference – RIGC 2023, with the theme “Redefining security of supply The potential of new technologies for a sustainable energy transition.”