BUDAPEST, October 17. /TASS/. Russia has assured Hungary that Gazprom will fully fulfill its contractual obligations on supplies of gas, even with Bulgaria raising tariffs to move gas through its territory, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said after talks in Beijing between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Foreign Minister noted that at the meeting the two leaders discussed Bulgaria's decision to increase the cost of pumping Russian gas. He added that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller were also present at the meeting.

"The CEO of Gazprom assured us that the company will continue to fulfill its obligations, that is, to supply the required amount of natural gas to Hungary in accordance with our long-term contract," Szijjarto said in an interview with the M1 TV channel.

"This was confirmed by the Deputy Prime Minister, who is responsible for energy issues, and President Putin also made it clear that they will fulfill their contractual obligations to Hungary," the minister said.

On October 13, the Bulgarian parliament introduced an additional tariff of 20 levs (about 10 euros) per MWh for the transit of Russian gas flowing through the TurkStream pipeline and its branches to Serbia and then to Hungary.

"This decision by Bulgaria is a hostile step towards Hungary and Serbia and may jeopardize the security of energy supplies to other countries," the Hungarian minister stressed.

He recalled that Russian gas supplies through pipelines are not subject to EU sanctions, and therefore Bulgaria’s decision not only contradicts the principle of European solidarity, but also violates EU rules on the application of customs duties and the free movement of goods. Szijjarto said that he discussed this issue with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Sinisa Mali, who is also currently on a visit to China. "A joint resolution of the governments of the two countries will soon be published, and we will not let Bulgaria get away with this," Szijjarto warned.

Hungary still receives the bulk of its gas from Russia. In September 2021, the Hungarian company MVM entered into two long-term contracts with Gazprom, which provided for the supply of a total of 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year through pipelines laid through Serbia and Austria, bypassing Ukraine. Since the use of the Nord Stream gas pipeline was suspended, an agreement was reached in October 2022 to increase the supply of Russian gas along the southern route - the TurkStream pipeline and its branch through Bulgaria and Serbia. In 2022, Hungary received 4.8 billion cubic meters of gas via this route.