The signing ceremony in Hungary was attended by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and Gazprom Export´s CEO Elena Burmistrova.
Gazprom´s Head Alexey Miller noted:.
- The long-term contracts that were signed today serve as a guarantee of reliable and stable supplies of Russian gas over the next 15 years
- An important component of the new arrangements is the diversification of supply routes
- As early as from October 1, Hungary will start receiving Gazprom's gas via TurkStream and the gas pipelines of southeastern Europe
- This was made possible to a large extent through the efforts of Bulgarian, Serbian and Hungarian companies in charge of developing the national gas transmission systems
Péter Szijjártó said:
- The price is significantly lower than what has been paid up to now based on an agreement signed in 1995 and will contribute to maintaining the achievements of the utility price cuts
- Hungarian consumers will continue to pay one of the lowest prices in the European Union
- For Hungary, energy safety is a matter of security, sovereignty and economy rather than a political matter
- You cannot heat homes with political statements
In 2020, Gazprom's gas supplies to Hungary totaled 8.6 billion m3.
Ukraine also intends to ask the European Commission to assess whether the new Hungarian-Russian gas agreement conforms to the European energy legislation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated:- We are surprised and disappointed by Hungary's decision to sign in Budapest a new long-term contract with Russia’s Gazprom for the supply of gas bypassing Ukraine,
- We note with sadness that this decision harms the positive results and trends in bilateral Ukrainian-Hungarian relations