Hungary offered an option to preserve Russian gas transit through Ukraine

Budapest is considering options for maintaining the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine. This was stated by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Saturday, December 21.

"We are not abandoning plans to receive energy through the territory of Ukraine, we are negotiating with both Russia and Ukraine. Next year we will also negotiate," the politician said, speaking at a press conference in Budapest.

Orban suggested the option of preserving transit is to simply change the owner of the gas.

"We want to pull off such a trick: what if gas entering the territory of Ukraine would no longer be considered Russian, but would be owned by the buyer. That is, when it passes into the territory of Ukraine, it is no longer Russian, but Hungarian gas," the Hungarian Prime Minister explained his idea.

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Although Moscow remains a reliable fuel supplier for the countries of the region

The day before, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said that the transit of Russian gas through the country will stop at 07:00 (08:00 Moscow time) on January 1, 2025. He noted that the resumption of transit will be possible at the request of the European Commission (EC), but in case it is not Russian gas that will be pumped.

On the same day, the head of the Slovak government Robert Fitzo said that if Ukraine stops the transit of Russian gas, intended for the European republic, through its territory, a serious conflict could occur. In addition, Fitzo drew attention to the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose powers expired on May 20, put forward impossible conditions for the restoration of gas transit and thus completely ruled out this possibility.

The Bloomberg agency reported on December 17 that major Central European companies had signed a declaration supporting the continuation of gas transit through Ukraine in 2025. At the same time, the share of imported gas from Russia in the total number of supplies to Europe has increased again, and Moscow retains its position as one of the largest suppliers of such fuel to the EU.

The Russian leadership has repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that the country has not refused transit gas supplies to Europe, but in order to extend them, European countries must negotiate with Kiev. According to analyst Ihor Yushkov, stopping the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine in January threatens Europe with a significant price hike, which will affect households and businesses.