Index – Economy – Zsolt Hernádi told what Viktor Orbán asked him

Zsolt Hernádi’s assessment of the current situation is also important because Ukraine introduced sanctions against the Russian oil company Lukoil. The loss of crude oil, which Lukoil intends to transport through Ukraine via the Friendship Pipeline, primarily affects the Hungarian and Slovak markets (it is irrelevant from the point of view of the overall European supply), so it may significantly affect the energy supply of Hungary and Slovakia in the medium term. Refinery capacity in Hungary and Slovakia is also It is operated by Mol Group. Since last week, the European Commission has been investigating the case of Lukoil deliveries through Ukraine.

It wasn’t just about Mol anymore

First of all, Zsolt Hernádi clarified that he grew up in Esztergom and, in a sociological sense, he was born here and went to high school here. The president and CEO of the Mol Group is proud to bring values ​​to Esztergom: “we managed to do things here that are good for the whole community”. As an example, he cited the city’s hotel and other institutions in addition to charitable activities.

“It is a question of how efficiently the collected money is used by the state. If we use it as a fire extinguisher, to plug holes, or to finance investments that do not support operating costs or economic growth, then there will be no added value,” Zsolt Hernádi previously wrote in his Mandiner opinion article. Now in this regard, he explained that if the special taxes had only affected Mol, he would have used the usual channels.

According to him, he should speak out because of the ornamental functionality of industrial policy. He believes that the special taxes will have two effects: investments will fall behind, and in his opinion, the effect of the regulatory sense of security should not be underestimated either. He also went on to say that there was no response to the opinion piece, although “they are under no obligation to respond.” According to him, they paid attention to his word.

Regarding Lukoil, he explained that he was surprised by the decision of the Ukrainians, as it is incomprehensible why they did it when “other Russian oil is being allowed through”. The most important suppliers of Hungary and Slovakia are sanctioned. They don’t even understand the punitive measure at the moment. Then, when asked, he also explained that they are working on the problem and that everyone involved “wants to stabilize the situation” – negotiations are still ongoing on this matter.

Zsolt Hernádi underlined that Lukoil is the second largest producer in Russia, they have such a quantity that they can deliver immediately, and they have a huge storage capacity – replacing Lukoil is more difficult than a small supplier. “Suddenly scraping out 200,000 tons of crude oil is not an easy thing.”

Will there be a fuel shortage?

According to him, Hungary can be supplied from Croatia, but not Slovakia and the Czech Republic. If there is no Friendship pipeline, there will be only one supply route left. He emphasized that the Adriatic pipeline was not yet operating at full capacity, and that the Croatians had already raised transport prices, and moreover, “they can do it at any time that there is no transport due to maintenance”.

When asked by what percentage it was possible to reduce Russian dependence, he answered that the previous promise was that the costs of the transition would be reimbursed to the company. He emphasized that the sanctions decision was made by politicians. According to Zsolt Hernádi, this promise is “like building a fence on the border”. He reminded that Russian crude oil is a standard, it can be produced and bought at sea, but much more expensive.

According to the Mol leader, there would be a fuel shortage sooner as a result of another price freeze than as a result of Ukraine’s actions. He underlined that a 90-day reserve is available, and then said: “I don’t think there will be a fuel shortage due to these reasons (Ukrainian sanction – ed.)”. He emphasized that there is no need to fear a supply shortage until the Mol calls.

Hydrogen is not the answer

With regard to the automobile industry, he explained that EU countries cannot provide support systems related to electric cars, and the necessary raw materials – lithium and rare earth metals – are not available. He drew attention to the fact that

But what will happen if the Hungarian government’s calculations regarding the batteries do not work out? According to Zsolt Hernádi, electric cars are used for urban transport, which is why small electric cars will spread. “Cheap electric small cars have a future, the entire transport is unable to switch to electric.” He sees hydrogen as a fuel as expensive and, according to him, low in efficiency. He thinks that urban transport cannot be solved by hydrogen at all.

According to the president of Mol, it has been confirmed that it was a shame to close the nuclear power plants in Europe. And as the coal mines were also closed, the continent became the largest importer of coal.

In relation to waste management, he stated that 3.5 billion beverage packaging bottles end up among the waste. According to him, we are now talking about Mohu in a month’s time, the problems will smooth out over time, the questions will be settled. Currently, HUF 50 billion have been spent at the group level just to place RePonts in stores. The beginning of the 35-year concession is inherently unprofitable, but according to Zsolt Hernádi, it will pay off over time.

At the end, the Mol leader also made a small soccer detour. He said: Viktor Orbán had previously asked him to jointly restart the soccer youth program named after Péter Bozsik (Bozsik program) together with OTP president and CEO Sándor Csányi.

(Cover photo: Péter Papajcsik / Index)