Russian Oil to Flow Again to EU Countries

BUNDAPEST – Moscow and Budapest try to resume supplies Russian oil to Hungary after transit through Ukrainian territory was blocked. This news was reported by the TASS news agency, citing the Foreign Minister. Hungary Peter Szijjarto.

In June, Kiev tightened sanctions against Russia’s leading oil company Lukoil by banning it from using Ukraine as a transit country for energy supplies. Lukoil previously secured a five-year deal to export around four million tonnes of oil a year with Hungarian energy company Mol in 2019.

Now the two companies are looking for an effective solution to the transit problem, Szijjarto told reporters on the sidelines of a UN conference in New York shortly after meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

“We discussed the issue of safe supplies of gas and oil to Hungary from Russia,” the minister said.

“If we talk about oil supplies, the current situation is that there is a new law in Ukraine, which forces Lukoil to stop supplies to Hungary,” he continued.

Ukraine imposed sanctions on Lukoil in 2018, banning the company from divesting its business in the country, as well as trading operations and participation in the privatization or leasing of state property.

The energy company used to supply Hungary with Russian crude via the Druzhba southern oil pipeline that runs through Ukrainian territory. Kiev’s latest move has prevented it from supplying the EU country.

Szijjarto added that Moscow and Budapest were working on a legal solution that would allow the two countries to resume oil shipments, stressing that Russian crude was crucial to Hungary’s energy security.