While concerns over the theoretical impact of plunging temperatures in Russia made gas prices jump in the west, the actual effect has now reached Hungary after shortages forced a switch to oil generated power.

According to the BBC’s monitoring service, Hungary news agencies have reported that some of their power producers have switched to oil generated power because of a gas supply shortage from Russia.

Quoting Hungarian Kossuth Radio, the BBC said that Mol Rt, Hungary’s biggest utility, has restricted gas supply to major domestic consumers, mainly power plants, forcing them to temporarily switch over to oil fuel.

The development is apparently due to Gazprom reducing its supply to Hungary by a rate of approximately 7m cubic meters per day less than normal because of high demand in Russia. The Hungarian Economy Ministry confirmed the news by stating that Gazprom gas imports were down by 20% due to the extreme cold in Russia.