Budapest Times: Gas crisis: 2006, 2009… 2015?
The experts and politicians currently negotiating throughout Europe are sweating not only due to the high summer temperatures. Their worries about the stability of gas supply for next winter is also making them perspire.
For now Moscow is tolerating how some European Union countries are helping out Ukraine since Russia stopped supplying the country with natural gas in mid-June. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned the Europeans backing up Kiev, since the latter owes USD 4.5 billion for Russian natural gas deliveries. (The debt has grown immensely recently after Ukraine refused every suggestion for compromise, resulting in Gazprom gradually raising the price from USD 100 per 1000 cubic metres until it is now closing in on the USD 450 world market price.
Hungary belongs to those neighbours who are standing beside Ukraine in its time of need: we are helping with about 5 million cubic metres daily to avoid an energy crisis. Hungary supported southern neighbour Serbia in January 2009 to the same extent, when ten thousands of people were left without heating (similarly as in Bulgaria) after Russia closed the gas taps for the second time following a similar incident in 2006.