In the wake of a meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Gazprom, the state-owned Russian energy giant, has announced its intentions to bolster natural gas shipments to EU-member Hungary. This decision has come at a time when the European Union (EU) is actively striving to reduce its dependency on Russian energy sources.
Despite growing concerns in the West that such arrangements may indirectly finance the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Moscow's Gazprom is set to supply Hungary with increased volumes of natural gas for the upcoming winter season. Alexey Miller, CEO of RUssia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom said in an interview on Russian television that "significant additional volumes are reaching the Hungarian market."
This comes in addition to the 1.3 billion cubic meters of gas delivered to Hungary beyond existing contracts earlier this year. Miller further assured that these additional volumes would continue to be supplied throughout the autumn and winter seasons.
Sole EU member
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's recent discussions with Russian President Putin, held in Beijing, primarily revolved around gas and oil shipments and the supply of nuclear fuel. Orbán has maintained that Budapest will not support EU sanctions against Russia that would exacerbate inflation in Hungary, and he has been hesitant to endorse stricter EU-level restrictions.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Hungary remains the sole EU member state that has upheld close ties with Russia. While the EU refrains from imposing sanctions on Russian gas imports via pipeline, it has considerably reduced its consumption of Russian gas and has imposed sanctions on oil imports.
Critics in the West have accused Prime Minister Orbán of indirectly financing President Putin's war in Ukraine due to Hungary's continued reliance on Gazprom's energy supplies. In April, Oleg Ustenko, an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, asserted that Hungary's new energy deals with Russia rendered it complicit in the Ukraine conflict.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, in defense of the energy cooperation with Russia, stated that the security of Hungary's energy supply depended on the uninterrupted transportation of gas, oil, and nuclear fuel. He emphasized that it was not driven by political preferences.
Loss of European markets
Gazprom's efforts to compensate for the loss of European markets following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, coupled with the Baltic Sea Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion last year, have spurred these developments. Russia has been seeking alternative customers, with plans for increased gas exports to China and strengthened gas trade with Turkey.
Prime Minister Orbán expressed Hungary's commitment to building constructive communication with Russia during his recent meeting with President Putin. Despite the geopolitical tensions, Hungary remains steadfast in maintaining its energy cooperation with Russia, emphasizing the importance of energy security.


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