Hungary has strongly condemned the US decision to sanction Gazprombank, warning that the move jeopardizes the energy security of several Central European nations and increases the risk of an early cutoff of Russian gas supplies, Bloomberg reports.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto described the sanctions as an “attack on our sovereignty” in an emailed statement Friday. He is currently meeting with energy ministers from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, and Serbia in Istanbul to discuss the implications.
Hungary, along with Slovakia and Austria, remains heavily reliant on Russian natural gas delivered via pipelines, utilizing Gazprombank for payment transactions. The sanctions significantly increase the likelihood of these supplies being disrupted.
While Europe has made strides in reducing its dependence on Russian gas, the loss of remaining flows would intensify competition for global supplies, driving up prices at a time when storage levels are already declining faster than anticipated. Further complicating the situation, a key pipeline route through Ukraine faces potential closure at the end of the year when a crucial transit agreement between Kyiv and Moscow expires, and alternative arrangements remain unresolved.
Slovakia’s economy ministry is currently assessing the potential impact of the sanctions on the country, according to a spokesperson. Meanwhile, Russia’s Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov assured that Moscow will find ways to continue receiving payments from foreign gas buyers despite the sanctions, as reported by state news agency Interfax.
On the sidelines of an Istanbul forum, the energy ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Bulgaria convened to discuss expanding trilateral cooperation in the gas sector, according to Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov.
