BUDAPEST – Hungary will seek to build up emergency gas reserves, and take part in pan-European initiatives to diversify the supply of gas imports, Economy Minster Jلnos Kَka announced last Wednesday following panic over natural gas supplies from Russia.

Kiev and Moscow last Wednesday reached agreement after a pricing dispute on the delivery of gas from Russia to Ukraine, much of which eventually reaches Central and Western Europe. Gas will be delivered to Ukraine at prices considerably higher than previously, although still below world market prices. That is a significant concession compared to the prices Russia was threatening to charge its neighbour. While the agreement last Wednesday closed the dispute, Russia had agreed a day earlier, in the face of western lobbying, to restore the usual pressure levels in pipes passing from Russia through Ukraine to the EU. That meant that Hungary, which experienced a 40% drop in gas supplies, saw its supplies stabilised. For the first few days of the year, as Ukraine and Russia argued over gas prices, Russia reduced the rate at which it was pumping gas into those pipes. Although the Russian state-owned gas company, Gazprom, said this was meant to merely affect the supply to Ukraine itself, EU countries reported receiving less gas. Russia blamed Ukraine for siphoning off gas meant for the EU. However, Kiev denied that accusation. Washington - which has welcomed Ukraines recent pro-western orientation - reacted to the situation by warning Moscow against using energy as a political tool. Kَka said that Hungary, along with its EU partners and other countries, is looking into ways to reduce its dependence on Russia, which supplies around 25% of the EUs gas. In Hungarys case, the majority of its gas (around 70%) comes from Russia. One international initiative is the Nabucco pipeline, which is planned by a joint venture of Turkish company Botas, Hungarian fuel firm MOL, Austrias OMV, Bulgarian Bulgargaz and Romanias Transgaz. Currently seeking investment, the project would transport gas from Turkey to Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, through a 3,300-kilometre pipeline. It would cost EUR 4.5 billion and start operations in 2011. The gas would originate from Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Egypt and Syria, as well as Turkey. PIN/THE BUDAPEST TIMES
کد خبر 76968