- Title: Hungary accuses Ukraine of meddling as it signs Russia gas pact
- Date: 27th September 2021
- Summary: KISKUNDOROZSMA, HUNGARY (FILE - 2014) (REUTERS) DIAL AT GAS DISTRIBUTION PLANT NEAR BORDER WITH SERBIA VARIOUS OF WORKERS AT PLANT DIAL BY GAS PIPES VALVE ON GAS PIPE MOSCOW, RUSSIA (FILE - APRIL 3, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF GAZPROM HEADQUARTERS VARIOUS OF GAZPROM SIGN ON BUILDING EXTERIOR OF GAZPROM HEADQUARTERS
- Embargoed: 11th October 2021 16:00
- Keywords: FM Peter Szijjarto Gazprom Hungarian foreign ministry Hungary Russia gas gas deal long-term gas supply agreement
- Location: BUDAPEST AND KISKUNDOROZSMA, HUNGARY / MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City: BUDAPEST AND KISKUNDOROZSMA, HUNGARY / MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Hungary
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002EWHXHKP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: PART QUALITY AS INCOMING
Hungary accused Ukraine of meddling in its internal affairs on Monday (September 27) after Kyiv criticised it over the signing of a new 15-year natural gas supply deal with Russia's Gazprom.
Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said contracts that Hungary signed should not concern third parties, and said he could not recall Hungary criticising agreements Ukraine had made.
Ukraine, which stands to lose millions in transit payments, issued a statement saying Hungary's supply deal was a "purely political, economically unreasonable decision" and was to the detriment of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations.
In turn, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told a news conference Ukraine was meddling.
Russia, which used to ship natural gas primarily through Ukraine, has diversified export routes, constructing the undersea Nord Stream pipelines direct to Germany and the TurkStream link from Russia to Turkey.
Under the deal finalised with Hungary at the end of August, effective from Oct. 1 and signed on Monday, Gazprom will ship 4.5 billion cubic metres of gas to Hungary annually, via two routes: 3.5 billion cubic metres via Serbia and 1 billion cubic meters via Austria.
The deal will supply around half of Hungary's annual gas consumption of between 9 and 10 billion cubic metres.
(Production: Lewis Macdonald, Gergely Szakacs) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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