Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the Hungarian energy group MOL needs a year to complete investments in the Slovak refinery Slovnaft, which will allow it to switch to a non-Russian one. – That is why we are asking the European Union to extend the exemption from sanctions for one year, which will allow MOL and Slovnaft to export to the Czech Republic products refined from Russian oil – he said at a press conference on Monday, quoted by .
Hungary still sticks to Russian oil
The Hungarian company MOL owns refineries in Hungary and , which receive crude oil through the southern branch of the “Friendship” pipeline. Slovakia receives almost all of its oil from Russia, but plans to reduce its energy dependence on Moscow this year. The president of MOL, Zsolt Hernadi, said in April this year that the Hungarian company wants to allocate from USD 500 to 700 million for new technologies that will allow it to process various types of crude oil in its Slovnaft refineries. In 2022, only about 5 percent. of Slovnaft’s crude oil came from countries outside Russia, but by the end of 2023 this share is expected to increase to around 30-35 percent.
The European Union has banned oil imports from Russia. Hungary and Slovakia on the list of exceptions
As part of the sixth package that the European Union imposed on Russia, EU countries are banned from importing Russian oil. Only Hungary and Slovakia have been temporarily exempted from the ban. The sanctions waiver for these two countries is valid until the end of 2023.
Source: Gazeta
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