BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 26. Integration of Azerbaijani resources into the supply chain as soon as possible is in the interest of Hungary, Tamás Torma, Ambassador of Hungary in Baku, said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
He was talking about the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding for encouraging cooperation among Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Transgaz (Romania), FGSZ (Hungary), Eustream (Slovakia) and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) signed in Sofia on April 25.
“In order to well understand the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in Sofia, I have to emphasize that the current geopolitical crisis has highlighted the fragility of European energy security. Europe is facing major challenges due to the war in Ukraine in the field of energy supply. At one point, the price of natural gas rose tenfold and it was a major challenge to fill reservoirs before the heating season and experts warn that it might be difficult to prepare for the next winter. The amount of Russian natural gas available on the European market will be 60 billion cubic metres lower than last year. Global demand has grown significantly due to the reopening of China’s economy which can also make it difficult for Europe to access natural gas on international markets, and at the same time sufficient LNG capacities are yet to be built to make up for the lost gas quantity,” he said.
On the other hand, Torma pointed out that more than 10 percent of the world's natural gas reserves are in the wider region of Azerbaijan.
“Diversification in the short to medium term is best achieved by increasing the amount of gas produced in the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan is ready to double its supplies to Europe. Therefore, the importance of Azerbaijan to Europe has increased. The increased volume of natural gas production in Azerbaijan can play an important role for the energy security of Hungary and Central Europe as well. Integration of Azerbaijani resources into the supply chain as soon as possible is in the interest of Hungary. At the Sofia Conference entitled "Energy for a Green Future", Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, together with the representatives of Bulgaria, Romania, Slovak Republic, Azerbaijan Republic signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim of enhancing and developing cooperation between the Republic of Bulgaria, Romania, Slovak Republic, and last but not least the Republic of Azerbaijan and of Hungary in order to increase the security of supply and the diversification of supply sources and routes to Europe using their existing transport infrastructure,” the envoy added.
The Memorandum of Understanding sets out directions of cooperation between SOCAR and four distribution system operators for the supply of additional gas from Azerbaijan to Europe. The additional gas will be supplied through the upgraded transmission network systems of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia called the “Solidarity Ring”.
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