Hungary’s foreign minister announced that Hungary will block a 90-billion-euro EU loan for Ukraine until Ukraine resumes oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline. Oil flows were halted on January 27 due to damage from a drone attack. Hungary and Slovakia, the only EU countries with refineries relying on Russian oil from Druzhba, accuse Ukraine of delaying the restart for political reasons. The minister stated that by blocking oil transit, Ukraine is violating the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
In response to a shortage, Hungary decided to release around 1.8 million barrels from its strategic oil reserves. However, the Croatian oil pipeline operator JANAF said there was no need for Hungary to tap into reserves, as non-Russian oil was already being transported without delays. MOL, Hungary’s oil company, can access the released reserves until April 15 and must return them by August 24.
At the end of January, Hungary had enough oil reserves to last 96 days. As both Hungary and Slovakia work to secure supplies, MOL has sourced oil from various countries, including Saudi Arabia and Norway, while halting diesel deliveries to Ukraine. MOL expects initial shipments to arrive in early March. The Slovak government also declared an oil emergency and plans to release 1.825 million barrels of oil for its Slovnaft refinery, owned by MOL.
With information from Reuters
