BUDAPEST (Sputnik) — Hungary is interested in gas transit from Russia to Europe through Turkey and counts on reliable supplies of Russian energy resources, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Hungary needs Russia. It is interested in reliable supplies of Russian energy," Orban said during a joint press conference with Putin on Tuesday.
Hungary is "fully committed" to continue investments despite the fact that the South Stream has "dropped out", Orban stressed, highlighting the profitability of the Turkish pipeline project, which would transit Russian gas to Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary.
"Hungary carries double responsibility [for gas transit], because Serbia receives gas needed for its survival via Hungary," the prime minister emphasized.
Orban also said that the "isolation" of Russia from Europe is "unpractical" and expressed confidence in the necessity of re-establishing good relations between Moscow and the European Union.
Russia has scrapped its years-old South Stream pipeline project that was to bring Russian natural gas across the Black Sea through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to Italy and Austria. The surprise decision was made last December after the European Commission's concerns over the project's legality prompted Bulgaria to halt construction.
Brussels said that Russia's ownership of both the pipeline and gas supplies violated the European Union's Third Energy Package. Moscow reacted by condemning the counter-productive EU stance and announced a fallback plan to deliver the gas through Turkey.
Russian energy giant Gazprom and its Turkish partner Botas have already mapped out the route of the pipeline, dubbed Turkish Stream, with an inter-governmental agreement expected to be inked in the second quarter of 2015. The pipeline's first leg is scheduled to be constructed by the end of 2016.
