Hungary has a corrupt gas contract with Russia, according to which the price of gas is several times lower than for other European countries. This was stated by Energy Minister German Galushchenko in an interview with Forbes..

" The price under this contract is several times lower than the prices in the European market. What is it like? It is clear that this is not just the case,"

Galushchenko stressed that this is an element of influence that requires certain actions from the party receiving this bonus.

" Isn't that corruption? The same happened with Ukraine. Russia gave us a discount on gas, and we extended the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. What is this if not corruption? "

At the same time, according to Galushchenko, Hungary cannot do what it pleases as a member of the EU,.

" If one country goes against the decision of the European Union, then, in my understanding, it would be fair that this country could not count on the money, programs and opportunities that the EU provides,"

Galushchenko acknowledged that the way out of this situation for Hungary would be problematic, and that the Hungarian government may hesitate precisely because of the consequences of abandoning corrupt Russian gas.

" Yes, it is true that prices will go up.. And politicians should explain to voters exactly why prices have risen.. It's a burden they don't want to take on. But corruption should not be discounted as a phenomenon. Believe me, in some EU countries, unfortunately, there is also corruption,"

Recall that Germany, which, along with Hungary, is one of the main lobbyists of the Russian Federation in Europe, found itself in a similar situation.. It turned out that Gazprom sells gas to Germany three times cheaper than European countries. This became known last summer, during a press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin after negotiations with the unrecognized President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko..

It was Germany that opposed the US sanctions imposed against the construction of the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.. The then German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline should be completed to the end.

Subsequently, it turned out that under Merkel, German refineries were actually "

Merkel created the economic prerequisites for today's problems in Ukraine and the world, in particular, at the cost of her country's energy dependence on Russia.