Report: Hungary-Slovakia Pipeline May Be Ready in 2014

A planned interconnector which would join the gas systems of Hungary and Slovakia could be completed by the middle of 2014, the Dow Jones news agency has reported.

Citing an unnamed source within Hungarian energy supplier MVM, the news agency reports that the €160 million pipeline could be completed ahead of schedule, six months earlier than originally expected. 

This interconnector is one of several that MVM has in the works in a bid to reduce its supply dependency on Russian supplier Gazprom. The Hungarian company has also inked similar deals with Romania and Croatia in the past. 

MVM had previously estimated that it would completed the construction of the pipeline by 2015, under the terms of an agreement with Slovakian company Eustream and MVM subsidiary Maygar Gas Transit.

When built, the pipeline will comprise of a 94-kilometre distance across Hungary with the remaining 25 kilometres to run through Slovakia. The pipeline will then have a capacity of 5 billion cubic metres a year.