The ministry of foreign affairs and trade of Hungary has reaffirmed in a recent statement the commitment to purchase natural gas from Turkmenistan through the Southern Gas Corridor.
This, obviously, is subject to the availability of the necessary infrastructure for transportation of gas through the Caspian Sea.
Tamas Menczer, State Secretary of Hungary at the ministry of foreign affairs and trade said in January 2020 that Hungary could buy 5 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Turkmenistan when the transportation facilities become available. He was speaking on completion of the session of the joint Turkmen-Hungarian economic committee in Budapest.
The Hungarian desire to purchase gas from Turkmenistan was strongly voiced in May 2019 when Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade of Hungary visited Ashgabat.
Speaking to the media after his meeting with the president of Turkmenistan, Szijjártó said, “Hungary considers Central Asia, and especially Turkmenistan, as a very important country of the region from the viewpoint of the European security.”
“At the meeting with the Turkmen leader, we have also discussed the cooperation in the field of energy. We are looking forward that gas resources of Turkmenistan will feed the common energy flow of Central Europe,” he added.
“If a 60 km pipeline could be built between Turkmenistan’s gas fields and Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan’s huge natural gas reserves could contribute to supplies for Europe, including central Europe,” he added. /// nCa, 12 August 2020