The Hungarian government issued a “state of danger” on Wednesday due to the country’s ongoing energy crisis, putting in place a seven-point plan to prepare for the government’s next measures in August, according to Zoltan Kovacs, spokesman. -voice of Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán.
Citing Gergely Gulyás, who heads the Hungarian prime minister’s office, Kovacs said the government’s measures include increasing domestic natural gas production to two billion cubic meters, banning the export of energy sources and increasing production. lignite household.
Additional measures include relaunching a power plant, extending a nuclear plant’s operations, soliciting market prices from consumers with above-average energy consumption, Kovacs said on Twitter.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó is also responsible for securing additional gas supplies, Kovacs added.
Natural gas supplies across Europe have suffered since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, causing countries to struggle as they try to preserve supplies in case Russia shuts off the taps.
In 2021, Hungary signed a 15-year natural gas supply agreement with Russian energy giant Gazprom to supply the country with gas, in a move criticized by Ukraine.
So far, Gazprom has cut at least 20 billion cubic meters of its annual gas supply to customers in six European countries – Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands – because they were unable to make payments in rubles, a demand by the president. Vladimir Putin did in March.
In an interview with CNN in April, Szijjártó confirmed that Hungary will use the payment scheme implemented by Moscow to pay for its oil and gas.
Szijjartó said there are no alternative sources or routes that would allow them to stop importing Russian energy in the next few years.
Ukraine is exporting energy to the European Union, says Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the launch of power transmissions to Romania was the beginning of a process that could help Europe reduce its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons.
Zelensky’s comments in his Thursday night video message follow an announcement by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal that exports began earlier in the day – with a volume of 100 megawatts – four months after the war. of Russia against Ukraine.
The president said the start of exports was “another significant step in our move towards the European Union”.
“Thanks to Ukrainian electricity, a significant part of Russian gas used by European consumers can be replaced. So it’s not just an export revenue issue for us, but a security issue for the whole of Europe,” Zelensky said.
“Let me remind you that our country’s connection to the EU’s common energy system took place already after the war started. Ukraine is doing things that once seemed impossible.”
Ukraine reached an agreement in mid-March to join the European Network of Transport System Operators (ENTSO-E) as an observer after its network was linked to the EU.
ENTSO-E said this week that preparations are complete for Ukraine’s first exports, along with Moldova’s energy, from 30 June – through an interconnection with Romania.
Electricity trading on other interconnections between Ukraine and Slovakia and Ukraine and Hungary – as well as between Moldova and Romania will follow soon, he said. The group said that total trading capacity would initially be set at 100 MW in the first phase.
In his previous announcement, Prime Minister Shmyhal said Ukraine’s electricity export potential to Europe could reach 2.5 gigawatts.
Source: CNN Brasil
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