Madyar said that Hungary can not quickly abandon Russian oil
Hungary’s dependence on Russian oil and gas cannot be eliminated overnight, he said. Minister of Economy and Energy of Hungary Istvan Kapitan earlier noted the country’s readiness to abandon Russian gas by October 2027
Hungary will not be able to abandon Russian oil and natural gas in a short time, Prime Minister Peter Madyar said in an interview with the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.
Madyar promised to take a pragmatic approach in relations with Russia. Hungary's energy dependence cannot be eliminated overnight
The Prime Minister noted the need to look for alternative energy sources and gradually reduce dependence on Russian oil and gas.
Hungary will be ready to give up Russian gas by October 2027, Economy and Energy Minister Istvan Kapitan told Telex in September.
According to him, the country is provided with gas for the coming winter, there are no problems with supplies. The minister explained the dependence on Russia by the fact that Russian gas has so far been the “most economically viable” option.
The captain did not disclose how much Russian gas imports have declined in recent months, but said Hungary would be able to supply gas from non-Russian sources by October 2027. The EU intends to ban imports of Russian LNG from January 2027, and pipeline gas from September 30 of the same year.
Hungary is also in talks with Croatia to use the Adria pipeline at full capacity to reduce dependence on Russian oil. In August, Hungary’s MOL and Croatia’s Janaf agreed to transport 2.05 million tonnes of crude oil.
In May, he said Hungary did not intend to break contracts with Russia for oil and gas supplies, but wanted to diversify energy sources. Now Russian oil enters the country through the Druzhba pipeline, and gas through the Turkish Stream and gas pipelines of Southeast Europe.
President Vladimir Putin said in early 2022 that Hungary under long-term contracts with Gazprom "buys Russian gas five times cheaper than the market price in Europe.".
In March 2026, Putin said that Russia was ready to cooperate with Europe in the field of energy supplies if it decided to “reorient itself”. “We have never refused, we are ready to work, but we need some signals from them that they want to work,” he said.
