This occurred during the October 17 meeting in Beijing between Putin, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó. According to the reputable journal S&P Global Commodity Insights, the security of gas supplies was the key discussion point.
"Putin and the general director of Gazprom confirmed that the contractual obligations for the supply of gas to Hungary will be fulfilled despite the increase in transit fees in Bulgaria," stated Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for the Hungarian government. He went on to say that Szijjártó had emphasized the need of energy cooperation between Hungary and Russia as a "prerequisite" for Hungary's energy security, and that Russia has already sent 4.8 billion cubic meters of gas to Hungary this year, primarily via the TurkStream link.
In a rare face-to-face encounter between the Russian president and the leader of an EU or NATO member state, BGNES notes that Putin also had a meeting with the prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, in Beijing. The conversations between Putin and Orbán were the topic of an emergency NATO summit that took place in Budapest on October 20.
Hungary and Gazprom reached a 15-year agreement in September 2021 to deliver 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually, but for the previous two years, Hungary has imported supplemental amounts on an as-needed basis.
After reaching a new monthly high of 1.43 bcm in August, TurkStream shipments to Southeast Europe continued to be strong in September at 1.35 bcm, according to S&P Global data.
September saw an average daily gas supply through TurkStream of 45 million cubic meters, with a peak of over 51 million cubic meters at the end of the month at the Turkish-Bulgarian border's Strandja 2 intake. Due to the high demand for TurkStream gas in Europe in September, gas deliveries exceeded the pipeline's technical capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters annually.
Russian gas can be sent via the "Balkan Stream" to Romania, Greece, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Hungary and Serbia. In January 2020, the gas pipeline began providing gas (BGNES).
