Hungary inks new gas supply agreement with Russia, bypassing Ukraine

Budapest signed a new long-term contract on Monday with Russia’s energy giant Gazprom for gas supplies bypassing Ukraine, Reuters reports.

The agreement was sealed by Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller and Hungarian energy group MVM executives at the Hungarian Foreign Ministry.

The deal was signed after Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced last month that Budapest had agreed with Moscow on all the conditions for a new supply contract to take effect from October 1. The minister said that under the new deal, Hungary will buy gas “at a much better price than under the expiring contract,” which was signed in 2020.

According to Szijjarto, the duration of the new agreement with Gazprom would be 15 years, with a clause to change purchased quantities after 10 years. The price had also been agreed.

Gazprom would ship 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Hungary annually, Szijjarto said, adding that some 3.5 billion cubic meters will come via Serbia and 1 billion cubic meters via Austria.

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