Companies from Hungary and Slovakia are close to signing a contract that would supply up to 14 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Azerbaijan following the completion of a transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine, reported Bloomberg.
According to the commercial agreement, the Azerbaijani state energy company Socar will supply gas to Sudzha on the Russian-Ukrainian border, and then Hungarian MVM Zrt. and Slovak Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel will further transport gas to Europe. For this purpose, it is planned to use the same network of gas pipelines through which Russian gas is currently delivered through Ukraine to the EU.
This information collapsed December gas prices in Europe by 8.1%, but the price has since partially recovered.
However, Slovak state operator SPP denied that the European companies are close to a secret agreement. Also, Reuters sources in Socar “downplayed” Bloomberg’s information. Kyiv also denied everything and pointed out that such reports pressure Ukraine to continue gas transit in 2025.