Hungary’s government issued a “state of danger” on Wednesday due to the country’s ongoing energy crisis, and set out a seven-point plan to prepare for the forthcoming government measures in August, said Hungarian prime minister’s spokesman Zoltan Kovacs. Victor Orban.
I quote Gergely Gulyás, head of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office, Kovacs said: Government measures include: increasing domestic natural gas production to two billion cubic meters, banning energy resources from exporting, and boosting domestic lignite production.
Additional measurements include the relaunch of a power plant, expansion of the operations of a nuclear power plant, charging market prices to consumers with above-average energy consumption, Kovacs said on Twitter†
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó is also responsible for securing additional gas supplies, Kovacs added.
Natural gas supplies across Europe have suffered since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, shaking countries as they try to conserve supplies in case Russia turns off the taps.
In 2021, Hungary signed a 15-year natural gas supply agreement with Russian energy giant Gazprom to supply gas to the country, in a move criticized by Ukraine.
So far, Gazprom has cut off at least 20 billion cubic meters of its annual gas supply to customers in six European countries – Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands – for failing to make payments in rubles, a demand. Vladimir Putin made it back in March.
In an interview with DailyExpertNews in April, Szijjártó confirmed that Hungary will use Moscow’s payment schedule to pay for its oil and gas.
Szijjártó said there are no alternative sources or routes that would allow them to stop importing Russian energy in the coming years.
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