Budapest - The amount of natural gas piped into western Hungary from Austria fell on Tuesday as a result of Russia cutting supplies to Ukraine in an ongoing dispute over pricing, said Hungary's gas distributor in a statement. The situation illustrates how the spat between Ukraine and the Russian state gas company Gazprom is having a knock-on effect in countries several links down the supply chain.
Hungary is still receiving the bulk of its natural gas via Ukraine, although Ukraine cut the daily delivery from 38 to 30 million cubic metres on Monday.
The head of the distribution company FGSZ, Janos Zsuga, said in the morning that the same amount of gas was expected on Tuesday.
Hungary's gas consumption forecast for Tuesday is 68 to 70 million cubic metres. The European Union newcomer is drawing on underground gas stores to compensate for reduced supply from its neighbours.
Domestic production only covers about a fifth of Hungary's natural gas requirements of 13-14 billion cubic metres a year. The bulk of its imported gas originates in Russia.
