Hungarian gas pipeline company has no official information yet on resumption of gas supply via Ukraine

Today, 10:53 | Interfax-Ukraine

Budapest, January 20 (Interfax Central Europe) - Hungary's natural gas pipeline operator Foldgazszallito has yet to receive official information whether or when gas deliveries via Ukraine will restart, the company said in a Tuesday morning statement.

"The Hungarian transmission system is ready to receive gas deliveries from Ukraine, however Foldgazszallito did not receive any official notification until 07:00 [CET] on Tuesday," the company said. "Foldgazszallito is continuously negotiating with the Ukrainian dispatcher services in order to resume natural gas transmission."

The prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement late Monday on the resumption of Russian gas shipments to Europe via Ukraine, potentially putting an end to an almost three-week halt to European gas supplies. Gas shipments from the Ukrainian pipeline system were reportedly ready to resume as of 08:00 CET, after Russia's Gazprom had begun pumping gas toward Ukraine earlier in the morning.

Foldgazszallito said that in the meantime, Hungary is ready to meet gas demand from domestic resources, as it has since the start of the supply crisis. Available resources include 53 mln cubic meters (cbm) from underground storage, 9 mln cbm from domestic production, and 4 mln cbm from Western European imports. The company said this should comfortably meet Tuesday's expected demand of 48-50 mln cbm, down from Monday's 52 mln cbm due to increasingly mild weather.

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