“A trade agreement has been concluded in accordance with which Hungary will be purchasing a total of 4.2 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Gazprom between October of this year and next October”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Monday from Moscow, where he is on an official visit.

“We are commencing negotiations on the period beginning next autumn. Our target is to be able to conclude a long-term agreement covering three five-year periods, which may be exited at the end of each five-year phase. This would assure our long-term supply, and also enable us to renegotiate or exit the agreement if better opportunities arise, or there is a change in the international energy market”, he stated. The Minister said that Hungary will be purchasing 2 billion cubic metres of natural gas over the summer for storage, the transport of which has already begun. According to Mr. Szijjártó, in addition to negotiations on the quantities to be shipped, the expansion of transport routes is also going well in view of the fact that, thanks to the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, it will also become possible to purchase natural gas from the south from next October. “All the necessary Hungarian decisions have been made to ensure that we can connect the Serbian-Hungarian border and Hungary’s national gas pipeline system with a 15-kilometre pipeline, the planning of which has already begun. This will enable the transport of 6 billion cubic metres of natural gas to Hungary from the south from next October”, he explained.

The Minister said that the political will with relation to the development of space research cooperation is clear from the part of both parties. “We would like to continue the three major research projects, in which the technological contributions of Hungarian enterprises, industrial companies and scientists is already extremely significant, within the framework of Hungarian-Russian cooperation. Over the next four to five years these technological development projects will reach the stage where they can be taken up to the International Space Station (ISS). Our clear goal is for a Hungarian astronaut to also be included in the team that accompanies this equipment to the ISS”, Mr. Szijjártó emphasised. He pointed out that efforts to develop a vaccine and research a therapy against the coronavirus could also open up a new opportunity for bilateral cooperation in view of the fact that both countries are successfully protecting against the pandemic.

He pointed out that relations between the two countries are already highly developed within the field of healthcare, and particularly the pharmaceutical industry, and almost a fifth of Hungarian exports to Russia are comprised of pharmaceutical industry products. He pointed out that Hungarian pharmaceutical company Richter, which is present in Russia with a production base of over 100 million euros,  has been able to maintain its market share during the crisis, and is planning to realise a further 15 million euros in investment. The Minister said that a Hungarian medical instruments manufacturer is also already active on the Russian market.

Mr. Szijjártó’s negotiating partners on Tuesday included CEO of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin, Health Minister Mikhail Murasko, the new Russian Co-Chair of the Hungarian-Russian Inter-Governmental Committee Denis Manturov, and CEO of Transmashholding Cyril Lipa and the company’s President Andrey Bokarev.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)