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Hungary already received 2.3 bcm of gas from Russia this year — Szijjarto

The Hungarian foreign minister noted that "Bulgaria plays an irreplaceable role in ensuring the security of gas supplies to Hungary"

BUDAPEST, April 22. /TASS/. Hungary has already received 2.3 billion cubic meters of Russian gas this year via the Turk Stream pipeline and its extension through Bulgaria and Serbia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said after a meeting with Bulgarian Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov in Budapest.

The foreign minister noted that "Bulgaria plays an irreplaceable role in ensuring the security of gas supplies to Hungary."

"We highly appreciate the responsible attitude of the current Bulgarian government to this matter, and it is gratifying that our fellow minister assured us today that Bulgaria will remain a reliable transit partner for Hungary in the future. We need this, since more than 20 million cubic meters of natural gas flow through Bulgaria to Hungary every day, as a result of which the volume of supplies via the TurkStream gas pipeline has exceeded 2.3 billion cubic meters this year," Szijjarto wrote on his Facebook page (banned in Russia, owned by the Meta corporation, recognized as extremist in Russia).

Szijjarto also noted that Stankov also shared important news with him - Bulgaria is significantly increasing the capacity of gas pipelines passing through its territory as part of the Vertical Gas Corridor project. This creates conditions for increasing gas transit volumes to Hungary. Szijjarto added that the parties agreed to continue strengthening regional energy cooperation.

Hungary receives the bulk of its gas under long-term contracts with Gazprom via the TurkStream pipeline and its branches through Bulgaria and Serbia. According to Hungarian data, 5.6 billion cubic meters of gas entered the country via this route in 2023, and in 2024 this figure reached a record high of 7.6 billion cubic meters. The importance of this route has increased significantly after Ukraine refused to extend the transit of Russian gas through its territory to Central Europe from January 1.