From October 1, the Gazprom giant will suspend gas to Hungary via Ukraine. This was reported by the Bulgarian media with reference to the press service of the Ukrainian GTS operator. Gas to Hungary will pass through the Turkish Stream, the gas transmission system of Bulgaria and Serbia. This is due to the new agreements agreed at the end of September this year. Of course, Ukraine does not like it at all.
Serhiy Makogon, director general of the Ukrainian gas operator, said that “Kyiv has never violated its obligations to Budapest for decades.” He also stressed that the Ukrainian route is profitable from an economic point of view, as it is the fastest way to supply to Hungary. Everything else is just politics.
Makogon accused Gazprom of monopolizing gas routes and called for strengthening “the dominance of one player, whose actions are clearly pursuing political goals amid rising gas prices across Europe.”
Be that as it may, an agreement between Gazprom and the Hungarian company MVM CEEnergy has entered into force, according to which Budapest will receive 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year from thermal power plants for the next 15 years. 3.5 billion through Serbia and 1 billion through Austria.
In Kyiv, the deal was called a “betrayal of Budapest.” Ukraine intends to apply to the European Commission to ensure that the agreement complies with European energy legislation. The Hungarian authorities, for their part, view Ukraine’s reaction as interference in their internal affairs.