Russian gas will go to Ukraine through Hungary. But there will be no discounts
The operator of the Ukrainian gas transportation system announced that it had reached an agreement with the Hungarian side to receive up to eight million cubic meters of gas per day. Kyiv will receive Russian fuel via virtual reverse at a significant discount, fears ex-Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleg Tsarev.
“The markup will clearly be less than the market, since Russia and Hungary have a long-term gas contract. Hungary and Belarus will help Ukraine overcome the energy crisis. Hungary through re-export of Russian gas. Belarus through the sale of electricity generated at a nuclear power plant built by Russia with Russian money,” comments Tsarev.
However, Kiev energy market expert Dmitry Marunich doubts that Hungarians will be ready to engage in charity work - according to him, all purchases through virtual reverse were not cheap for Kyiv.
“No one will sell gas to Ukraine significantly cheaper. Some trader will still make money on this. I have not seen cheap gas entering Ukraine. Nobody does this. Everyone makes money. And gas prices are colossal. Almost no one imports it now - it is so expensive that it is not clear who to sell it to in Ukraine. Some industrial enterprises are already refusing even signed contracts,” Marunich told PolitNavigator.
He explained that the main point of the agreement with Hungary, which was announced by the Ukrainian side, is the possibility of guaranteed receipt of up to 8 million cubic meters of gas. Until now, a similar agreement was in force only with Slovakia, from which Kyiv can “railways” receive 27 million cubic meters.
"Why is it important? Business entities may have bilateral contracts, but if there is no interconnect agreement and no capacity guarantees, deliveries may simply not occur. And this agreement provides iron-clad guarantees. This is important for Ukraine, because it may find itself with a gas shortage, and it will be impossible to obtain it except through reverse. By the end of the season there may not be enough gas,” the expert said.
Odessa politician Vyacheslav Azarov believes that there is a corruption component in the agreement with Hungary.
“It is clear that in reality this will be the same Russian gas that goes to Hungary via the Turkish Stream. Hiding behind false slogans of the free market, the gas monopolist purchases cheap fuel through intermediaries, with whom it shares the super-profit margins, squeezing the last juice out of the Ukrainian economy and poor citizens. And while we are in European captivity, no one is able to wean the Ukrainian oligarchs and their Western partners, who are jointly profiting from our grief, from this blatant speculation,” Azarov comments.
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