Hungary asks Gazprom for “flexible contract”
Hungary, contract of which for the supply of Russian gas will expire in 2015, will become the first country, which will begin to negotiate with Gazprom on a new agreement against the background of Russia's refusal to construct South Stream and low oil prices. The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has already announced that he expected to agree on "flexible" terms of delivery during the visit of Vladimir Putin on February 17. Experts note that Moscow could make concessions to its closest ally in the EU.
Yesterday, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban clarified the position of the country on the gas issue before the visit of the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, appointed on February 17. "We would like to replace the current agreement, which will expire in 2015, by a new one, but we don’t know how the price will develop," - said Mr. Orban. The Prime Minister specified that Budapest didn’t insist on signing of a long-term contract, the most important thing is that "it must be flexible".
Hungary with an annual consumption in the amount of 6 billion cubic meters of gas will be the first country, which will have to revise the long-term agreements with Russia on gas after Gazprom refused to construct the South Stream gas pipeline and the drop in the oil prices. Last time, Gazprom revised the long-term contracts in 2012, with Bulgaria (they were extended until 2021) and Finland (until 2028). Now Gazprom is also in talks with a number of large customers for the revision of the contract price (in the revision of a number of the contracts, an additional binding to spot prices for gas in Europe is included in them).
