Hungary seeks to renew gas deal with Türkiye, praises BOTAS as major player

The CEO of Hungary’s state-owned energy company MVM CEEnergy, Laszlo Fritsch stated that BOTAS, Türkiye’s state-owned energy company, is a huge player in the market and expressed their intentions to renew the natural gas agreement made in 2023.

“For us, the Central Eastern European region is quite important,” he said. “BOTAS can be the gatekeeper and can be not only a virtual but a physical hub for the whole region,” he explained.

With the 2023 deal, Hungary was the very first European country destination that is not one of Türkiye’s neighbors, which Türkiye began natural gas shipments via pipeline to Hungary.

“Further cooperation with BOTAS is very important. We are working currently to renew last year’s agreement,” said Laszlo Fritsch, on the sidelines of the Istanbul Energy Forum.

“We would like to further cooperate with BOTAS and to increase the volumes for the future,” Fritsch added.

Fritsch said that Hungary aims “to reach a deal by the end of this year” stretching into the years to come.

Praising the earlier deal, Fritsch said, “It was quite a pleasure to be one of the parties who signed the agreement last year in terms of gas cooperation between the MVM Group of Hungary and BOTAS Group from Türkiye.”

“I believe it was a milestone, as we were the first to sign a gas delivery agreement with BOTAS outside of Türkiye,” he said. “It was crucial for us because it paves the way for new cooperation.”

Hungary’s primary energy supply comes from TurkStream pipeline

Commenting that MVM is also working with green energy, Fritsch said, “We are dealing with nuclear. We are dealing with solar. I think the door is open for further cooperation between the two countries.”

“It creates some uncertainties, but the fact that Hungary is primarily supplied by the TurkStream pipeline is a relief for us. Essentially, even if the Ukrainian transit halts, Hungary will not face supply security issues,” Fritsch explained, highlighting the crucial role of the TurkStream pipeline in maintaining the energy supply chain.