Hungary, Gazprom to sign deal for imports through Serbia in Sept - report Peter Szijjarto; Source: U.S. Department of State [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons BELGRADE (Serbia), August 31 (SeeNews) - Hungary expects to sign in September an agreement with Russia's Gazprom for the import of 3.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually through Serbia, Budapest-based media reported. Under the contract, Gazprom will supply to Hungary 4.5 billion cubic metres of gas annually, as 1 billion cubic metres of the total amount will be transported via Austria, daily Vilaggazdasag quoted foreign minister Peter Szijjarto as saying on Monday.
Gas deliveries through Serbia are expected to start on October 1, when an interconnector between the two countries is expected to be launched, Szijjarto said after meeting with Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller in Saint Petersburg. The agreed price is much more favourable than what Hungary is paying under the expiring contract signed in 1995, he added. In December 2019, Serbia completed the laying on its territory of about 400 km of pipes of a string of the TurkStream pipeline of Gazprom for the transit of natural gas to Europe from Turkey via Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary. The country received the first quantities of natural gas through Bulgaria in December 2020. Serbia will receive 13.88 billion cubic metres of gas per year through the pipeline.