Hungary refuses to import oil through Croatia: says it is unreliable
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto considers unacceptable the EU's proposal to use oil transit from Croatia instead of Lukoil's, which was blocked by Ukraine.
"Croatia is simply not a reliable country for transit," he said on August 2, Censor.NET reports with reference to LigaBusinessInform.
According to Sijjarto, oil transit from Croatia is unreliable because "the price of oil transit has been increased fivefold compared to average market values since the beginning of the war."
"It is unreliable because they have made it impossible for MOL to use long-term transportation capacity. It is unreliable because the necessary investments to increase the line's capacity have not been made, and the data on the maximum capacity is given that has never been confirmed by anyone," the Hungarian Foreign Minister explained.
Thus, Szijjarto summarized, the cessation of oil supplies from the "east" threatens Hungary and Slovakia with "unreliable transit."
The day before, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that Croatia and its oil pipeline operator JANAF were ready to transport oil to Hungary and Slovakia. He sent letters with the proposal to the prime ministers of Hungary and Slovakia, as well as to the head of the European Commission.
As reported, in late June, Ukraine imposed sanctions against Lukoil, banning the company from any activity on its territory and cutting off oil supplies through pipelines to Slovak and Hungarian refineries.
The step outraged officials in Slovakia and Hungary, who argued that blocking supplies would jeopardize their energy security.
