BUDAPEST, September 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia plans to keep 500 million cubic meters of gas in Hungary’s underground storages in case gas transit through Ukraine faces troubles, Hungarian daily Napi Gazdasag reported Wednesday.

According to the daily, Hungarian National Development Minister Miklos Sesztak held a meeting with Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky in Budapest on Tuesday to discuss the possibility.

Hungary’s underground gas storages are almost 60% full with the stored gas amounting to 3.66 billion cubic meters as of Tuesday, according to the data of the GSE association.

Bulgaria prepares for possible disruptions

Bulgaria’s government has prepared an action plan in case Russian gas supplies fall, the country’s daily Sofia Globe reported Wednesday, citing Deputy Prime Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva.

Though there have been no disruptions in supplies yet, such a scenario is highly likely, Zaharieva said, the daily reported. She said the government recommended that heating suppliers should work out a possibility of switching to other types of fuel, while the country is also holding talks with Greece on buying gas in case of deficit.

Declines in gas supply volumes

Since September 8, gas pipeline operators in Poland, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Romania, and Italy have separately reported on declines in Russian gas supplies varying from 5% in Romania to 45% in Poland.

On Monday, Gazprom said that cuts in Russian gas deliveries to Europe are caused by gas pumping into domestic underground storage facilities.