01 February 2022, Tuesday, 14:45 213

Physical Import Of Natural Gas From Hungary To Ukraine Starts For 1st Time In History On February 1 - Ukrainian GTS Operator Head Makohon

Даша Зубкова

Serhii Makohon, director general of the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTS Operator of Ukraine) LLC, says that today, February 1, for the first time in history, the physical import of natural gas from Hungary to Ukraine has begun.

He wrote about this on Facebook, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"Today, for the first time in history, the physical import of natural gas from Hungary to Ukraine began. Previously, the GTS system could only work in the direction from Ukraine to Hungary. Thanks to the technical measures taken, it became possible to transport gas in both directions," he wrote.

According to Makohon, the Hungarian direction has become the second guaranteed route for natural gas supplies to Ukraine after Slovakia, even in the absence of transit.

"The opening of this route created an opportunity for traders to organize supplies of liquefied LNG to Ukraine from a terminal in Croatia," he added.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the GTS Operator of Ukraine and the Hungarian GTS operator FGSZ have previously agreed to extend the guaranteed capacity for transporting of natural gas from Hungary to Ukraine until September 30, 2022.

The GTS Operator of Ukraine and the Hungarian GTS operator FGSZ signed an agreement on cooperation to introduce guaranteed capacities for the transportation of natural gas from Hungary to Ukraine from January 1, 2022.

On October 1, Gazprom stopped natural gas supplies to Hungary through Ukraine.

Earlier, Russian media reported that, under the terms of the contract between Hungary and Gazprom, the company will supply 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year through Serbia and Austria.

At the same time, the contract will be valid until the end of 2036.