TurkStream operator to relocate from Netherlands to Hungary

MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) - The TurkStream operating company is relocating from the Netherlands to Hungary, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto said during a meeting of an intergovernmental commission in Moscow on Tuesday.

He said that a Dutch court had upheld a suit filed by energy company DTEK Krymenergo to seize the assets of Gazprom's South Stream Transport BV, the operator of the TurkStream gas pipeline. "The company has begun its relocation from the Netherlands to Hungary, and its activities are not constrained by any sanctions," Szijjarto said on social media.

He also said that Hungary was able to pay for gas in a way which would not be affected by sanctions.

"We have signed agreements in Washington, Moscow and Istanbul, thanks to which Hungary has a constant supply of oil and gas. At the same time, we have to constantly defend our right to use them against attacks from Kiev and Brussels. Brussels attacks us in legal aspects, while Kiev threatens physical damage to infrastructure," Szijjarto said during the press conference.

"During the last few weeks, we have had to eliminate one more threat, and that is why we have decided that the organization which manages exports via TurkStream will be transferred from the Netherlands to Hungary. In this way, we will be able to receive gas without interruption in the future, too," Szijjarto said.

TurkStream is an export gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey via the Black Sea. Throughput capacity totals 31.5 bcm of gas per year, and the pipeline supplies gas to Turkey and the countries of Southern and Southeastern Europe in transit through Turkey.

The pipeline consists of two lines, each of which can pump up to 15.75 bcm per year.