Azerbaijan to start supplying gas to Hungary via Turkiye

Azerbaijan will start supplying around 275 million cubic metres of natural gas to Hungary via Türkiye in April, Azernews reports.

This statement was made to Hungary’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister, Peter Szijjarto.

The move makes Hungary the first non-bordering recipient of Türkiye's natural gas exports.

"We struck an agreement to deliver 275 million cubic metres of natural gas. Deliveries will begin on the first of April. In other words, for the first time, Turkey will supply gas to a non-bordering country. We are pleased to be the first country," Szijjarto said.

Szijjarto hailed the long-standing friendship between his country and Türkiye, with each having an association with the Organisation of Turkic States, with Türkiye as a permanent member and Hungary as an observer.

He noted that the recent changes in world politics and the global economy have stressed the importance of regional supply and transit routes and energy resources.

With Türkiye's geopolitical prominence for gas transportation, Szijjarto said the TurkStream pipeline, which transports Russian gas to Türkiye along the 930-kilometer-long (580-mile) pipeline under the Black Sea, serves as the number one distribution route from Russia to Hungary.

Last year, Budapest and Baku signed a political agreement, according to which the volume of Azerbaijani gas supplies to Hungary will increase to about 1 billion cubic metres.

Earlier, the Hungarian energy company MVM CEEnergy and the Azerbaijani oil and gas company SOCAR signed an agreement to supply 100 million cubic metres of gas to Hungary by the end of 2023, with a possible increase to 2 billion cubic metres per year.

Hungary attaches great importance to energy cooperation with Azerbaijan and always appreciates the important role played by our country in ensuring Europe's energy security. The friendly country supports the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project and has expressed interest in joining it. As a rule, the Hungarian side is represented at the ministerial level at the annual ministerial meetings of the Consultative Council of the CSDP. The relevant agreement on strategic partnership in the field of green energy between the governments of Azerbaijan, Hungary, Romania, and Georgia, signed in Bucharest on December 17 last year, plays an important role in energy cooperation between our countries. As a result of that agreement, efforts are being successfully continued towards the implementation of the project related to the construction of an underwater electricity cable that will pass through Georgia and the Black Sea in order to transfer "green energy" between the mentioned countries. It should be noted that the implementation of this project will play an important role in the expansion of electricity export opportunities between the region and European markets, as well as the diversification of Europe's energy security, especially thanks to the great wind energy potential in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

? Azerbaijan and Hungary successfully cooperate within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States (TDT) and other international organizations. Since 2018, the Representative Office of TDT has been operating in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, which is an observer in the Organisation of Turkic States and attaches great importance to the development of cooperative relations with the organisation. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a statement in 2018 that Hungarians consider themselves descendants of the Hun ruler Attila and that the Hungarian people are based on Hun-Turkish roots.