Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjarto said that Budapest began consultations with the EU after the transit of Russian Lukoil oil through Ukraine was suspended.
.in_text_content_22 { width: 300px; height: 600px; } @media(min-width: 600px) { .in_text_content_22 { width: 580px; height: 400px; } }
According to him, Ukraine’s decision to add Lukoil to its sanctions list “fundamentally threatens the security of energy supplies to Hungary and Slovakia.”
This is an unacceptable step on the part of Ukraine… Such a decision is a clear violation of the Association Agreement, he believes.
Hungary and Slovakia have initiated consultations with the European Commission, as they have stopped receiving oil from Lukoil due to Ukrainian sanctions. Budapest considers the transit ban an unfriendly step. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that “Ukraine has damaged not the Russian economy, but the EU economy.”
As is known, Hungary received two million tons of crude oil annually from the Russian Lukoil, which is a third of its imports.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico also considers sanctions against Russia’s Lukoil “senseless.” Last weekend, in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Fico criticized Ukraine’s decision to stop the transit of Russian oil.
Slovakia does not intend to be a hostage to Ukrainian-Russian relations, and the decision of the Ukrainian president means that the Slovnaft refinery, which is part of the Hungarian MOL group, will receive 40% less oil than it needs for processing. This will affect not only the Slovak market, but may lead to the cessation of supplies of oil produced by Slovnaft to Ukraine, which accounts for almost a tenth of all Ukrainian consumption, the Slovak prime minister said.
The Slovak Ministry of Economy said Slovnaft had already secured supplies of Russian oil from another supplier and had also ordered oil from alternative sources.
History of the issue
Lukoil has been under sanctions in Ukraine since 2018, but they were limited. In June 2024, the National Security and Defense Council significantly expanded them, adding a ban on transit.
Hungary is facing a fuel crisis, Politico predicts, since Kyiv imposed sanctions on Lukoil in June and banned the company from transiting oil to Central Europe. Budapest fears a supply shortage, since 70% of its oil imports come from Russia, and half of that comes from Lukoil.
The Ukrainian measures could create a difficult situation, said Ilona Gizińska, a researcher and expert from Hungary at the Centre for Eastern Studies think tank. She believes that Hungarians could face a sharp rise in energy prices and power shortages in a few weeks if no solution is found.
Since the conflict began, the EU has imposed an embargo on Russian oil imports entering the bloc by sea. But it has ruled out [із санкцій] supplies via pipelines – in particular the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic – to give those countries time to find alternative supplies, provided they do so as quickly as possible.
Now Ukraine has taken matters into its own hands.
We have been waiting for the EU and the G7 to impose real sanctions against Russian oil for over two years. We have tried all the diplomatic solutions, but they have not worked… So it looks like we will have to look for some other approaches to how to talk to them. Considering that Moscow earned $180 billion on oil exports last year, it is simply absurd to allow them to earn this money by transporting oil through Ukrainian territory, said Verkhovna Rada deputy Inna Sovsun, noting that the pipeline still transports 200,000 barrels of oil per day.
Hungary must act quickly to find other options.
Any prolonged supply disruption would force regional refiners to use stockpiles, deplete them and in the meantime seek some diplomatic solution to the problem, said Victor Katona, chief oil analyst at Kpler.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.