The EU will be pleased - NOT
Russia
and Hungary Agree on New Gas Contract
Hungarian
Prime Minister Victor Orban has thanked Vladimir Putin for agreeing
to drop the principle of 'take or pay' for the new contract, which
replaces the previous agreement signed in 1996.
18
February, 2015
Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban
reached an agreement in Budapest on Tuesday on the terms of a new
contract to provide gas to the central European country; it replaces
the current agreement, which was signed in 1996 and expires this
year.
"Today
we have agreed, taking into account our good relations and on the
basis of mutual agreement of both sides, that gas which goes unused
by Hungary can be used in the following years, and that we will pay
for that gas when we get it. For us it's a great relief," said
Victor Orban in Budapest, announcing the agreement.
"I
thank President Putin for making it possible for the people and
industry of Hungary to be supplied with cheaper Russian gas. Without
reliable supplies of Russian gas we would not be able to continue the
work we are planning to carry out."
Under
the terms of the 1996 contract, Hungary is bound to pay for gas it
contracted to buy but did not use; the Hungarian party came to the
table with a request to cancel the so-called 'take or pay' clause
from the contract, which is usual practice for Gazprom and the norm
in the energy industry.
President
Putin remarked that Russia's flexibility had come in response to
requests from its Hungarian partners. "All the questions which
were raised with us during the course of today's negotiations have
been resolved in the same vein that they were put to us by our
Hungarian friends."
"Firstly
Gazprom as a state company is ready to carry over volumes of gas
unused by our Hungarian partners to the following period," said
the president, confirming that 'take-or-pay' had been canceled.
"Another question is the expansion in the use of underground
storage. It is clear that such storage spaces allow Hungary to go
through the autumn-winter period without any problems, and Gazprom in
principle is not against the storage of greater volumes of gas
there."
The
political deal, the technical details of which are still to be
finalized, was one of several made during President Putin's working
visit to Hungary. Agreements were also reached in other areas
including healthcare and education, as well as the signing of a
memorandum on cooperation in training personnel in nuclear energy and
related fields.
Earlier
on Tuesday, President Putin laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier at Heroes’ Square, and at the Memorial to Soviet Soldiers
in the Kerepesi National Pantheon in Budapest. "I am very
grateful to the Hungarian government and Prime Minister for the
invitation to visit Budapest at the time of the 70th anniversary of
its liberation from the Nazis," declared the president.
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