Hungary and Qatar have agreed for their state-owned energy companies to begin negotiations on Budapest’s purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Gulf states, Reuters reported.

“It is in the interests of Hungary to attract new sources for its gas supply,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijarto, after the negotiations in Doha.

Hungary has been the only country in the European Union that has not yet tried to reduce its dependence on energy imports from Russia, relying on Moscow for natural gas and oil consumption.

Szijjártó announced on Wednesday that Hungarian state-owned group MVM will start negotiations with QatarEnergy on the possibility of supplying Hungary with LNG for three years.

“There has to be an understanding between the two companies, and that understanding has to make sense from a profitability perspective. However, today we concluded a political agreement, and discussions can begin,” said the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry.

Hungary has announced that it does not want to give up Russian gas

Qatar is already one of the world’s biggest exporters of LNG, and several European nations have recently held talks with Doha to increase imports as they try to reduce their consumption of Russian gas.

Szijjártó also said on Wednesday that the EU should expand the capacity of its LNG terminals in the south of the continent so that Hungary can buy natural gas from Qatar.

“If Croatia expands the capacity of its LNG terminal as promised, (…) then it will be realistic that gas from Qatar will play a role in Hungary’s energy supply for 3 years,” he added.

A 15-year deal signed last year between Budapest and Gazprom provides Hungary with 4.5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas per year, which is transported through Bulgaria and Serbia.

In October, the Hungarian government announced that it plans to end dependence on Russian gas by 2050.

“The level of gas in Russia, if all conditions are met, could drop to zero by 2050,” Hungarian Innovation and Technology Minister László Palkovic said at the energy conference at the time.

Also in October, Gazprom agreed to delay payments to Hungary for natural gas delivered this winter after Budapest requested it do so due to a sharp rise in energy prices.