Gas deliveries to Hungary are based on a bilateral contract with a payment obligation to Gazprom in May, and a decision on this payment is currently being worked out, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjarto said, Reuters reports.

Answering the question whether Hungary can pay in rubles for Russian gas imports, Szijjarto said that the first payment obligation should be fulfilled at the end of May.

There is a technical solution that allows us to pay for the gas used, and the technical details of this solution are currently being worked out.

Szijjarto said on Wednesday that gas supplies to Hungary are based on a bilateral contract between a division of the Hungarian state company MVM and a division of Gazprom, and that the EU plays no role in this contract.

Hungary signed a new long-term gas supply agreement with Russia last year. Budapest refused to impose sanctions on Russian energy imports.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban won Sunday's election, thanks in part to a pledge to keep Hungarian households safe from gas supplies. Orban rejected sanctions against Russian oil and gas, saying it would destroy the economy.