Russia will consider a request from Hungary to buy more gas, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on July 21 after meeting with his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, in Moscow.
Szijjarto, who said he traveled to the Russian capital to talk about ensuring gas supplies and finding a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine, met with Lavrov and other Russian officials.
Under a 15-year deal with Russian energy giant Gazprom signed last year, Hungary receives 3.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year via Bulgaria and Serbia, and a further 1 bcm via a pipeline from Austria.
Szijjarto told a news conference that Hungary needed a further 700 million cubic meters of gas on top of the existing supply deal and it would not be possible to buy that much without Russian sources.
The amount represents around 6.7 percent of Hungary's 2020 consumption of the fuel, according to data from the country's natural-gas pipeline operator.
"Today our colleagues expressed the Hungarian government's interest in a new purchase of natural gas this year. This request will be...considered," Lavrov told a joint press conference with Szijjarto.
Szijjarto said his goal was to complete talks on gas purchases as soon as possible, reiterating that Hungary wanted a cease-fire and peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.
Szijjarto also held talks with Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak and Denis Manturov, who is also a deputy prime minister as well as the minister of industry and trade, the Russian government said in a statement.
"Today the political situation is rather complicated, but we appreciate the position of the Hungarian government, which consistently defends its national interests. We are determined to further develop our relations, including in the energy sector," Novak told Szijjarto, according to the statement.
Szijjarto said earlier that Hungary was in talks to buy more gas on the market before the heating season as countries in Europe scramble to fill up and as energy prices skyrocket.
He also said on July 18 that Hungary was in talks with Russia about redirecting all of its gas shipments under the long-term supply deal to the Turkstream pipeline that brings gas to Hungary via Serbia.
Szijjarto's visit to Russia came on the same day the government announced that it was scrapping decade-long caps on gas and power prices for higher-usage households from next month -- a move that will lead to hefty price hikes for extra energy consumption.
The price caps helped right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban secure reelection in 2014 and had been a key point of his election campaign in April, when he won a fourth consecutive term in office.
Under the decree, households will be eligible for the current capped power price on electricity usage up to 2,523 KWh per year, but will pay about double that for energy consumed above that limit, although the government said that would still be below the market price.
For gas, the annual usage limit for price caps is 1,729 cubic meters, above which a price close to market prices applies, resulting in a seven-fold price rise.
Orban is confronted with his toughest challenge since taking power in 2010, with inflation at a two-decade high, the forint currency near record lows, and European Union funds on hold in a dispute over democratic standards.