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Szijjártó thanks Belarus for reliable oil transit to Hungary

MINSK, 1 November (BelTA) - Hungary is grateful to Belarus for ensuring reliable transit of oil via the Druzhba oil pipeline, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto told the media in Minsk on 31 October, BelTA has learned.

Belarus, according to him, is a very important country for Hungary in terms of energy security. "For us, this is not an ideological but a physical issue. Political statements cannot heat an apartment or keep factories running. For us, the issue of energy supply is a physical issue," he explained. “Today, Belarus guarantees transit oil to Hungary, 71% of Hungarian oil goes through the Druzhba pipeline. Belarus guarantees the security of these supplies."

This year, Hungary received 3.9 million tonnes of oil via Belarus. "The Druzhba pipeline will continue to play a decisive role in our oil supply, because there is no other pipeline through which we can get oil delivered to Hungary," Peter Szijjarto stressed, adding that it is physically impossible to pump similar volumes through the territory of Croatia.

The foreign minister also commented, at the request of journalists, on recent reports that Ukraine is going to stop transit of Russian gas through its territory. "It does not matter whether Russian gas will be supplied via Ukraine in the future. A few years ago, together with Türkiye, Bulgaria and Serbia, we built the TurkStream pipeline. Therefore, natural gas to Hungary is supplied through it. This year, the TurkStream pumped 6.2 billion cubic meters, or more than 20 million cubic meters per day. Thus, we have guaranteed supply of natural gas to the country."

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