Ukraine and Hungary summon ambassadors over gas contract

The governments of Ukraine and Hungary summoned each
others’ ambassadors for discussions on Sept. 28 as tensions rose over Hungary’s
gas supply contract with Gazprom. The deal with the Russian gas giant calls for
15 years of deliveries to Hungary via routes bypassing Ukraine.

While the Hungarians are calling this an apolitical
business deal, the Ukrainian side is calling it a blow to Ukrainian-Hungarian
relations because of the economic effect on Ukraine. The Ukrainian government
had already called off the meeting of a bilateral commission on economic
cooperation scheduled for Sept. 29-30 because of the expected signing,
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated in an interview on ICTV
television on Sept 28. Kuleba claimed that the Ukrainian government would
respond to this blow. The Hungarians have called the Ukrainian ambassador to
complain about this response.

James Hydzik: The situation will die down in the short-to-medium term as new gas
issues across Europe capture attention, but in the longer term, relations
between Ukraine and Hungary are expected to remain neutral at best. This is no
surprise, given the status of the Orban government as the bad boy of central
Europe. For business, this should present few headaches, but economic
opportunity in south-west Ukraine will still not develop based on trade with
Hungary specifically as much as the EU as a whole.