Indicator – Economy – According to the government, the country’s gas supplies are secured

Tamás Menczer confirmed that Hungarian gas stores were filled in proportion to consumption Almost twice the European average. According to the Secretary of State, it should also be noted that there are two prerequisites for the security of the Hungarian energy and gas supply:

• Is there a long-term agreement with Russia,
• and the continuous operation of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.

Gas comes to Hungary via the pipeline from the south, via Serbia, and last year alone, 4.8 bcm came in, almost half of the 10 bcm of Hungarian annual consumption.

Diversification may be the key

Regardless of this, the politician noted, the government is constantly looking for opportunities to diversify gas purchases. The Minister of Foreign Affairs recalled that in 2010 Hungary had gas connections only with two neighboring countries, and now with six, currently only Slovenia.

However, Russian gas accounts for 85 percent of Hungary’s gas consumption. For oil, 65 percent. This cannot be changed overnight

– stated the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who added that experts see three opportunities for diversification: increasing LNG capacities in Croatia – by the way, the government has already allocated 1 billion cubic meters of LNG -, production should finally start in the Neptune deep gas field in Romania, and it should bring gas to Hungary, according to the government.

According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, “Each option requires a lot of money, time, and serious developments in the infrastructure, so it is not possible to replace Russian gas at the present time,” adding: “This clearly shows how irresponsible left-wing politicians are when they talk about cutting off Russian gas immediately.” . Tamas Mincer also stated that nuclear energy is the most expected, cheapest and most environmentally friendly source of energy, which is why Hungary opposes any of these sources. Brussels penaltyHe said this would hinder the development of the Pax Nuclear Power Plant.

In response to the presenter’s question, Tamas Mincer explained that there is currently only one alternative to replace the Friendship pipeline coming from Russia through Ukraine, which would bring oil through Croatia, but its capacity is insufficient. The other problem with this is that the Croats want to increase the transit fee by two and a half times.

(Cover photo: Tamás Menczer on March 23, 2022. Photo: Péter Papajcsik/Index)