The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expressed disappointment with the decision of Budapest. The department called this step “taken to please the Kremlin” in order to damage the national interests of Ukraine and Ukrainian-Hungarian relations.
Then Viktor Orban said that the point of view of Ukraine was not taken into account on this issue. “We need gas. This is reality <...> On the gas front, I need to meet the interests of the Hungarian people, not the Ukrainian people, ”said the head of the Hungarian government.
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Two long-term contracts for the supply of Russian natural gas to Hungary were signed in 1996. Since the start of deliveries to Hungary by the end of 2019, about 261 billion cubic meters were exported. m of natural gas. For 2020 to Hungary received 8.6 bcm m of gas, for 2019 – 11.26 billion cubic meters. m.
In autumn 2021, gas prices in Europe rose significantly. If at the beginning of last year the cost of futures for TTF fuel was slightly above $200 per 1,000 cubic meters. m, then on August 30 the prices exceeded $600, on September 15 – more than $900. At the end of the year, exchange prices for gas in Europe beat records and approached $2.2 thousand per 1 thousand cubic meters. m.
FT learned about the preparation of the EU sanctions against the gas sector of Russia
Later, the cost decreased, but still remains above the levels of previous years. As of January 28, according to the ICE exchange, the cost of gas futures in Europe located above $1,088 per 1,000 cubic meters m.
Against the backdrop of the gas crisis, many European politicians began to accuse Russia of price manipulation. Head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol saidthat Moscow held back the volume of gas supplies to Europe during a period of “increased geopolitical tensions.”
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak responded by pointing out that Russia was not to blame for the energy crisis. In his opinion, the crisis was caused by a long winter, which forced the extraction of significant volumes of gas from underground gas storage facilities in Europe.