The Russian energy company Gazprom announced on late Friday that Hungary has expressed its strong intention to making sure that they receive some of the gas planned to be supplied to Europe via the transit string of the TurkStream gas pipeline.

The company said that a working meeting between Gazprom Chairman Alexey Miller and Hungary's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto took place at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2019.

According to Gazprom, the participants of the meeting examined the current issues and prospects of their cooperation, particularly focusing on gas supplies.

"It was noted that Gazprom's supplies to Hungary from Jan. 1 through June 5, 2019, totaled 4.3 billion cubic meters of gas, a 57.5 percent increase versus the same period of 2018. In addition to the contracted amounts, Hungary bought from Gazprom another 2 billion cubic meters of gas, which will be delivered in 2019," Gazprom stated.

In 2018, Gazprom supplied Hungary with 7.6 billion cubic meters of gas, an increase of 9.3 percent (7 billion cubic meters) from 2017.

The TurkStream project is an export gas pipeline consisting of two 930-kilometer lines, each with the capacity to carry 15.75 billion cubic meters of natural gas, which is planned to be fully operational by the end of 2019. The pipelines cross beneath the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey and further extends to the latter's borders with neighboring European countries.

A series of tests have already started for the safety and integrity of the whole natural gas pipeline system before pipelines start gas transmission by the end of 2019.

TurkStream's first line is intended for gas supplies to the Turkish market, while the second will supply gas to south and southeastern Europe. The second line is expected to go from Turkey through Bulgaria, then to Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia.

Each pipeline is 930 kilometers in length, laid at depths reaching 2,200 meters. The project is the biggest-diameter offshore gas pipeline in the world laid at such depths. The world's largest construction vessel, the Allseas-owned Pioneering Spirit, completed the construction of the project's two offshore pipelines.