Hungary is set to resume gas supplies to its northeastern neighbor, Ukraine, after suspending it indefinitely in September.
The Hungarian gas pipeline network operator FGSZ announced the decision in a statement posted on its website on Monday.
“FGSZ Ltd. will again secure gas supplies towards Ukraine from January 1, 2015,” the statement read.
FGSZ deliveries to Ukraine were halted in late September. Ukraine’s state-owned gas firm Naftogaz labeled the move “unexpected and unexplained.”
Hungary is capable of sending up to 6.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Ukraine annually, or a maximum of 16.8 million cubic meters on a daily basis.
In early December, Russia restarted sending gas to Ukraine after a six-month halt due to a price dispute.
Moscow and Kiev were locked in a dispute over gas price stemming from the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Russia had emphasized that it would cut off its gas supplies to Ukraine unless Kiev settles its debt and pays the price for its gas in advance.
The threat was fulfilled in June after Moscow’s deadline passed with Ukraine failing to pay its overdue debt.
With the cold wave arriving in Europe, Naftogaz paid Russia’s Gazprom USD 378 million in December to purchase one billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas.
Ukraine consumes 30 bcm of Russia’s gas every year.
