MOL’s Hungarian refineries in Hungary and Slovakia will be able to run solely on non-Russian oil by the end of 2026, a year later than planned.
Currently, the share of non-Russian oil at MOL plants can reach 30-40%.
“Investments are currently being made that will increase participation to 100% by the end of 2026.” — the vice president of the Hungarian group told Reuters Victor Sverla.
According to him, the one-year delay is due to unforeseen difficulties in the implementation of 24 refinery modernization projects and the need for additional logistical investments in storage and blending capacity. MOL’s investment is estimated at 500 million dollars.
On December 5, 2022, the European Union banned the import of Russian oil by sea, but did not limit supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. Germany and Poland themselves abandoned them. But Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic still matter.
According to the Ukrainian publication ExPro, the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine to these countries increased by 37% in September compared to August, up to 1.07 million tons.
“In total, in nine months Ukraine transported about 8.05 million tons of Russian oil to Europe. Raw materials are transported to three countries: Hungary – 3.39 million tons or 42% of total transit, Slovakia – 2,912 million tons (36%) and the Czech Republic – 1.75 million tons (22%) . – says ExPro.
In June, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Lukoil, the main supplier to the Hungarian MOL. The company then found a temporary solution and in September announced that it would buy its oil on the Ukraine-Belarus border, after which its raw materials would pass through Ukraine.
Budapest and Bratislava appealed to Brussels over sanctions imposed on the Russian company, but European authorities essentially sided with Ukraine. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen He said Hungary had not done enough to get rid of Russian oil.
The European Union imposes new contracts for the supply of oil to Hungary via Croatia, MOL is negotiating, but the company does not like the current transit rates and would like to receive oil via other routes.
“However, the Druzhba pipeline is vital for us and our goal is to diversify crude oil purchases, taking advantage of both Russian and non-Russian oil.” – said Victor Sverla.
