Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said Tuesday the Hungarian government finds it unacceptable that European consumers must pay the price for the ongoing Russia-Ukraine gas dispute.
In a letter to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Prime Minister Mirek Topolanekof the Czech Republic, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, Gyurcsany said that the matter was no longer simply a question of trade dispute but one of relations between the European Union (EU) and its neighbors to the east.
He called on EU leaders to get directly involved in the dispute between Russia and Ukraine rather than keeping their distance.
According to the prime minister, if Hungary's gas consumption remains at current levels, it has enough gas reserves to cover domestic needs for several weeks even if imports from Ukraine do not resume.
Russian gas deliveries to Hungary via Ukraine ceased Tuesday afternoon and the Hungarian government said it would ask some power plants to switch to alternative fuel.
Hungary's annual gas consumption is about 13-14 billion cubic meters. About 80 percent comes from Russia through pipelines in Ukraine.
The country has about 3.8 billion cubic meters of gas in storage, including strategic reserves.
Source:Xinhua
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