EUROPE GAS NETWORK

Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia will sign an agreement to interconnect their natural gas networks whih to allow also the reverse transit, announced on Thursday night the Hungarian minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto on the Hungarian public television station M1, MTI reports, according to Mediafax.

The agreement aims to increase the security of energy supply of all the four countries, stressed Szijjarto. The partners can access both European funds and money from national budgets to finance the necessary investments, he added.

In the context of cancellation of the Nabucco and South Stream projects, it is necessary for countries in the region to seek new opportunities and solutions for the diversification of natural gas supply, the minister said.

"As long as gas networks in the region are not connected and as long as no investment is made in a strategic pipeline, we cannot talk about energy security in Central Europe," said Szijjarto.

The agreement was to be signed at the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, he announced.

The commercial exploitation of an interconnection between networks in Hungary and Slovakia will become operational this summer, and Hungary and Romania are working to establish a reverse flow between their gas networks.

oilandgaseurasia.com