HomeNewsHungary says it supplies Ukraine with Russian gas

Hungary says it supplies Ukraine with Russian gas

6/4/2025
  • Hungary receives Russian gas from TurkStream
  • TurkStream flows rose 16% year-on-year in first quarter
  • Slovakia said this year it is supplying Ukraine; Hungarian official now says Hungary is doing the same
  • Around 19% of Europe's gas comes from Russia

Hungary is supplying Russian natural gas to Ukraine, a Hungarian official said on Wednesday in comments which indicate that Moscow is struggling to control exports of its fuel to its enemy.

Ukraine has faced a serious gas shortage since Russian missile strikes this year significantly reduced domestic gas production.

The country imports gas via Slovakia and Hungary after ending direct gas imports from Russia in 2015 following Moscow's annexation of Crimea and a pro-Russia rebellion in the east of the country, which Russian troops now control.

Slovakia said earlier this year it was exporting Russian gas to its neighbor but Hungary had not said it was doing the same until now.

"We are importing from Serbia, from the TurkStream, and we are exporting that to Ukraine... We are supplying Ukraine with Russian gas," Mark Alfoldy-Boruss, Deputy State Secretary at Hungary's Ministry for Energy said on the sidelines of a conference in Baku.

Russian energy giant Gazprom did not reply to a request for comment.

Gazprom had included a clause prohibiting the re-export of its gas in contracts with European companies but dropped it as a result of a European Commission anti-monopoly investigation initiated in 2012.

The Kyiv government has said Ukraine needs to import at least 4 Bm3 of gas for the new 2025/26 heating season while analysts and former officials estimated the required imports at about 6.3 Bm3.

The EU has imposed sanctions on most Russian oil imports since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but not on gas due to opposition from Slovakia and Hungary, which maintain closer ties with Moscow and continue to receive Russian gas and oil.

Hungary imports most of its gas via the TurkStream pipeline, which runs under the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey and on to Southeast Europe.

In the first quarter of this year, volumes through TurkStream's European section rose 16% year-on-year to around 4.5 Bm3, driven by higher demand in Hungary and Slovakia.

Around 19% of Europe's gas still comes from Russia via the TurkStream pipeline and LNG shipments, down from roughly 45% before 2022.

 

 

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