Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long been an ally of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, and exemptions from EU sanctions have permitted Budapest to continue receiving Russian crude via the Druzhba pipeline. Hungary also agreed a deal with Russia’s Gazprom in October to secure gas flows via Turkey through the TurkStream pipeline in addition to 3.5bcm/year for 15 years via Bulgaria and Serbia under a contract inked last year.

Yet Hungary is exhibiting signs of potential concern over the security of energy flows from Russia and is in discussions with Qatar and Oman over sourcing supplies. (CONTINUED - 232 WORDS)