At a press conference after talks with his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, the Russian foreign minister added that last year the two countries overcame the decline caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and achieved an increase of more than 25 percent in the volume of trade.

Lavrov stressed Moscow’s and Budapest’s mutual intention to implement joint projects in the energy and transport sectors.

In this sense, he added that the Hungarian Government expressed its interest in additional purchases of Russian gas, a request that will be considered immediately.

In September 2021, the Hungarian company MVM signed two long-term contracts with the Russian gas company Gazprom, which provide for the supply of a total of 4,500,000 cubic meters of fuel a year through gas pipelines that pass through the territory of Serbia and Austria, without going through Ukraine.

The agreement is designed for 15 years and may be reviewed 10 years after the beginning of its implementation.

For his part, Lavrov said that Szijjarto’s visit is absolutely timely, including to continue the exchange of trusting views on regional and international issues.

The Hungarian Foreign Ministry announced earlier that its minister will also meet with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksander Novak and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov to finalize additional purchases of 700 million cubic meters of gas for his country.

jg/afl/mv/odf