[ad_1]
Slovakia and Hungary on Friday rejected a European Commission suggestion that they could compensate for lost Russian oil supplies via an alternative route through Croatia, which they said was not suitable for oil shipments.
Oil supplies to Russia’s largest oil exporter Lukoil through Ukraine were halted in July after Ukrainian authorities banned the company from using the Druzhba pipeline, which links Russia with Eastern Europe.
Hungary and Slovakia asked the European Commission to intervene earlier this month because it threatens their security of supply.
But they rejected a proposal by the European Commission to use spare capacity on Croatia’s JANAF Adriatic pipeline to supply the two countries with non-Russian oil.
“Croatia is not a reliable transit country at all,” said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó. “Since the (Ukrainian) war began, Croatia has increased its oil transit prices fivefold.”
Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Gorlic Radman said: “This is a very politically offensive statement. We did not expect such a thing from the representatives of this country, because for a long time we have been dealing with malicious actions from this country with extreme restraint and moderation.”
Slovakia said on Friday it had received a letter from the Croatian government offering to secure oil supplies. Slovakia’s Hungarian subsidiary Slovnaft refinery already imports some of its oil through JANAF, also known as Adria.
“But at what cost? What about the capacity? No one knows today,” Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said in a statement.
Slovakia hopes the European Commission will allow Ukraine to fully resume exports from Russia to China, but he said that if the European Commission does not act, Slovakia will also look for other solutions.
The European Union banned its member states from importing oil after the 2022 Russian invasion in an attempt to wean itself off dependence on Russian fossil fuels, but granted exemptions to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to find alternative routes and supplies.
In addition to Lukoil, cargoes from other Russian suppliers continue to be transported through Druzhba.
EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said Ukraine had confirmed that Lukoil flowing through Ukraine was owned by other entities en route and therefore no sanctions were imposed on it, raising questions about the cause of the oil disruption.
Despite protracted negotiations over transit fees, Croatia’s JANAF and Hungary’s MOL signed a one-year contract in May 2023 to transport and store 2.9 million tonnes of crude oil via the Adriatic Pipeline to MOL’s Hungarian and Slovak refineries.
Hungary also complained on Friday that Croatia had failed to invest in capacity building and had never demonstrated figures for its pipeline’s maximum transport capacity.
Janav refuted the allegations in a statement, saying it has been continuously investing in its transport storage systems.
The company said it had tested the transport capacity of the section to Hungary together with Mitsui OSK Lines and proved that it could transport 1.2 million tons of crude oil per month.
“It is simply untrue that Janaf has increased fees over the past three years,” the company said in a statement.
“Janaf is technically and organizationally ready to supply Central European refineries with sufficient quantities of oil to cover their full capacity. Therefore, we hope to find a satisfactory solution through open negotiations and cooperation and continue our long-term partnership,” the company said.
(Editing by Georgi Gotev)
Read more by Euractiv
[ad_2]
Source link
