Hungary is ready to pay for Russian gas in rubles

Hungary said, on Wednesday, that it is ready to pay for Russian gas in rubles if necessary, unlike other European Union countries that rejected this request from Moscow. “We do not see any problem with payment in rubles. If this is what the Russians want, we will pay in rublesPrime Minister Viktor Orban said at a press conference in Budapest.

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Moscow threatened to cut off gas supplies to countries.UnfriendlyWho will refuse to pay in rubles, a measure that will primarily affect the heavily adopted EU. Hungary is the first country to break out of the ranks of European unity in this matter, since other countries refused to pay any amount in rubles to Moscow, which in this way seeks to support its currency. Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto argued that the EU had no role to play in gas supplies, “Governed by a binary contract“.

Heavy dependence on Russian energy supplies

“The desire of the European Commission to obtain a common response from the importing countries does not seem necessary to us.“He did not say.”technical solutionThe implementation of the transfer, he said, should be made through the first payment commitment to Russian giant Gazprom at the end of May, when Hungary is highly dependent on Russian energy supplies.

Read alsoEurope will hit Russian energy

The European Commission proposed, on Tuesday, that the twenty-seven countries should tighten sanctions on Moscow, by stopping its purchases of Russian coal, which represents 45% of European Union imports, and closing European ports to Russian ships. But a possible embargo on Russian oil (25% of European oil purchases) and Russian gas (45% of EU gas imports) is the subject of bitter debates among member states. In addition to Budapest, Berlin and Vienna have publicly expressed their reluctance.