Gazprom increases gas flows to Hungary via TurkStream pipeline

Gazprom has increased flows to Hungary through the TurkStream pipeline that brings gas to Hungary via Bulgaria and Serbia, a Hungarian foreign ministry official said on Saturday.

On Friday, the Russian state-owned company started delivering more gas than it was contractually obliged to, according to an official in Hungary's ministry of foreign affairs and trade, Menczer Tam s, wrote in a Facebook post.

By the end of August, Gazprom would supply Hungary with an addition of 2.6 m cubic meters a day, said Menczer, a member of the prime minister Viktor Orb's Fidesz party.

TurkStream, which runs through the Black Sea, is called Balkan Stream in Bulgaria, where the pipeline enters European Union territory. Bulgaria continues to transit Russian gas to Serbia and Hungary, while Russia has stopped gas deliveries to EU member Bulgaria.

Three weeks ago Hungary's foreign minister P ter Szijjjrt travelled to Moscow to discuss buying an additional 700 m cubic metres of gas, becoming the only top official from an EU member state to visit Russia since late February, even though Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer made a trip in April.

Hungary, which is about 85% dependent on Russian gas, has consistently opposed the idea of EU sanctions on Russian gas imports, and Orb n has lobbied hard to get an exemption from EU sanctions on Russian crude oil imports.

It is the only EU member state that has ruled out of acting on a plan to reduce gas consumption by 15% from August this year to March 2023.

The economic ministry of Germany said on Saturday night that the country had to reduce its gas consumption by 20% to meet its 15% reduction target in order to meet its 15% reduction target in Germany, which is reliant on Russian gas imports.

The government has stopped lighting up buildings and monuments for purely aesthetic purposes, as well as lowering the minimum temperature in offices in the private and public sector by one degree to 19 C. Outdoor advertising signs are to be turned off from 10 pm to 6 am.

Germany's government is ordering gas providers to inform their customers about rising costs and possible measures to make savings in the autumn.

Natural gas makes up about 27% of Germany's energy mix. Just over half of the gas consumed in Germany was imported from Russia before the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, with the government reducing its reliance to under 30% since.

Some German cities announced in July savings measures, with Hanover in north-west Germany announcing plans to turn off hot water in the showers and bathrooms of city-run buildings and leisure centres.

We are on the cusp of a national effort that will require strong coordination between the federal administration, the states, municipalities, social partners, unions, crafts and their associations, as well as civil society, according to Minister for the Economy Robert Habeck. Every effort counts.