There is a solution on how to pay in rubles for Russian gas without violating any EU sanctions and ensuring the country’s natural gas supply, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a video posted on Facebook on Monday.
According to the minister, the details are now being worked out by MVM’s subsidiary CEEnergy and Gazprom’s subsidiary Gazprom Export.
The country’s next payments for imported Russian gas are due in May.
Szijjártó said that the two companies had a bilateral agreement and that the European Union had not participated in any way, so they did not see the need for the EU to play a coordinating role in this matter.
The minister stressed that the two companies have contracted with each other and now they will amend their contract. The agreement reached last September stipulated the possibility of switching to another currency against the euro, he added.
The proposed solution would see MVM’s subsidiary create two accounts with Gazprom Bank that are not on the sanctions list: a euro account and a ruble account. In the future, MVM’s subsidiary will pay Gazprom Bank in euros, Gazprom Bank will convert the paid euro into rubles, and the amount will be transferred to Gazprom Export.
Szijjártó said that this solution fulfills the payment, which meets the new needs of the supplier, but in the meantime does not violate any sanctions.
Hungary would be willing to pay rubles for Russian natural gas, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said last week.
“It will not be difficult for us to pay in rubles for gas, if the Russians ask, we will pay for it,” Orbán said at an international press conference about the currency in which Hungary will pay for Russian gas.
