
FGSZ Ltd, the Hungarian gas pipeline company, posted a communique on its website which reads that Hungary is ready to resume reverse gas supplies to Ukraine from January 1, 2015. The press service says that such a decision was driven by the outcome of a poll in Hungary. Gas consumers think that consumption of natural gas is unlikely to grow in the near future.
At present, Ukraine is being supplied with gas according to the similar reverse scheme from two East European states, Poland and Slovakia.
Hungary has suspended gas supplies to Kiev since September 2014. FGSZ made this decision to meet the growing domestic demand for gas. Ukraine’s Naftogaz commented on the situation as an “unexpected” move. In March 2013, Ukraine and Hungary reached an accord on gas supplies to Ukraine in the amount of five to six billion cubic meters a year. Importantly, the agreement set out the supply scheme could operate in an interrupted mode depending on current commercial and technical conditions.