BUDAPEST, February 19. /TASS/. Hungary will not resell Russian natural gas to Ukraine, news agency Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The Hungarian prime minister also said Hungary would not support the European Union’s initiative to create an energy union.
"The plan would require involving the EU in bilateral relationships. For us, this would be abdicating our sovereignty," Bloomberg quoted him as saying.
Hungary is also going to sign a new gas deal with Gazprom, which will stipulate Russian natural gas supplies for a period of five years, the Hungarian premier said, adding Russia’s gas giant was ready to increase gas storage volumes in Hungary.
Hungary currently pays $260 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas compared with an estimated $270 average in Europe, Orban said.
Gazprom may agree to Hungary’s proposal to sign a short-term gas deal along with the extension of a contract on Russian natural gas supplies to Hungary, which expires in 2015, experts polled by TASS news agency said.
A source close to Gazprom told TASS that negotiations on extending Gazprom’s gas contract with Hungary are currently at the initial stage and will take into account the wishes of both parties, as well as the parameters agreed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Hungary.
During Putin’s visit to Budapest on February 17, the sides agreed that it was possible to give up the "take or pay" principle in gas supplies and also reduce the volume of obligatory gas intake under the contracts.