Hungary is in talks with Russia about redirecting all of its gas shipments under a long-term supply deal to the TurkStream pipeline that brings gas to Hungary via Serbia, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday.
This is needed to ensure the security of supply as the levels of gas shipments from Austria into Hungary are lowered by insecurity in Western Europe's pipeline system, Szijjarto said.
"We are receiving on a daily basis a steady volume of 32-33 million cubic meters of gas; we get half of this amount via TurkStream via Serbia every day – this shows that the southern shipping route is the most stable, predictable and secure," he said in a video posted on Facebook.
"This is why talks are underway about redirecting all the gas shipments arriving within the framework of the long-term Russian gas supply deal to the southern route. We can see that the uncertainty on the western pipelines reduces the amount of gas arriving from Austria under the long-term supply deal."
Szijjarto said Hungary was receiving about one-third of the contracted amount from Russia on the Austrian pipeline and 100% via Serbia, which means that overall, Russia is delivering 88% of the contracted daily volumes under Hungary's long-term deal.
Under the deal signed last year, before the start of the war in neighboring Ukraine, Hungary receives 3.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year via Bulgaria and Serbia under its long-term deal with Russia and a further 1 bcm via a pipeline from Austria.
The agreement with Gazprom is for 15 years, with an option to modify purchased quantities after 10 years.
With an annual capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters, the TurkStream was commissioned in early 2020.
The pipeline consists of two 930-kilometer (577.88-mile) offshore lines, and two separate onshore lines that are 142 and 70 kilometers long.
The first line with a capacity of 15.75 bcm is designated for supplies to Turkey’s domestic customers, while the second carries Russian gas further to Europe through Bulgaria.
