Szijjártó says forced to buy gas from EU at inflated price due to restrictions

European companies pay several times more for gas and electricity than their American and Chinese competitors after the suspension of supplies of cheap raw materials from the East. This statement was made by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on February 4.

"It was the combination of advanced technologies from the West and cheap raw materials from the East that ensured Europe's economic growth. And now European companies have to pay 4-5 times more for gas and 2-3 times more for electricity than their American or Chinese competitors," he said on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union (EU) trade ministers in Warsaw, broadcast by M1 TV channel.

According to Szijjártó, the European Commission has made a serious mistake by "continuing to politicize and ideologize quite practical economic issues."

"This has led to the European Union isolating itself from the two biggest players in the global economy - the United States and China," the foreign minister summarized.

Long gas pipelines: Russia and Ukraine do not negotiate to extend transit to Europe

How the interruption of blue fuel supplies will affect the EU countries and whether they have any alternatives left

Earlier, on January 30, the Financial Times (FT) reported that the EU was discussing the resumption of gas supplies from Russia as part of a settlement on Ukraine. An unnamed European official added that "everyone wants to reduce the cost of buying energy."

EU diplomatic chief Kaja Kallas on Jan. 27 formally confirmed the union's extension of anti-Russian sanctions for six months. Szijjártó added that the European Commission had given the country guarantees to "maintain the protection of oil supplies to the EU," which is a security issue for the entire European Union.

On January 1, 2025, Gazprom said it would suspend gas supplies through Ukraine. On the same day, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo noted that this would have drastic consequences for the EU, but not for Russia.

At the end of August 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (his term expired in May 2024) said that the country would not extend the gas transit agreement with Russia, which expired at the end of 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin later pointed out that Moscow did not refuse to transit gas through Ukraine.