Hungary to contract for Turkish Stream gas capacity

Budapest, April 17 - Neftegaz.RU. Hungary will launch a procedure to contract for gas capacity of the TurkStream pipeline in September, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said after a meeting of the Hungarian-Bulgarian Joint Economic Committee, Budapest Busniess Journal reported.

Russiaʼs Gazprom is working with Bulgaria and Serbia to bring gas delivered through the TurkStream (originally Turkish Stream) pipeline - running from the Russkaya compressor station near Anapa in the Krasnodar region, across the Black Sea to Kıyıköy on the Turkish Thrace coast - as far as Hungary and Austria. Bulgaria has already started the necessary investments, Szijjártó said.

The minister said gas deliveries from the south would become even more important if Russian gas deliveries via Ukraine cease or if offshore wells in the Black Sea start producing gas.

Bilateral trade between Hungary and Bulgaria could exceed EUR 1.5 billion this year, which could be boosted further by a EUR 165 million credit line Magyar Eximbank has opened to support partnerships between Hungarian and Bulgarian businesses, Szijjártó noted.

Bulgarian Minister of Economy Emil Karanikolov said talks on the timeframe for gas deliveries would continue. He welcomed the pickup in trade and development of economic ties between Bulgaria and Hungary, noting that tourism and agriculture were among the important topics discussed at the meeting of the joint committee.