EU Commission: No threat to oil supply security in Hungary, Slovakia – Euractiv

The European Commission believes that the sanctions imposed by Ukraine on Russian oil producer Lukoil will not pose a risk to oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia as they will not affect the transportation of oil to Hungary via Ukraine.

In a letter to the foreign ministers of Hungary and Slovakia, European Commission Vice President for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said that according to information obtained from Russian oil importer Hungary’s MOL, the oil had become the property of Russian-Ukrainian border trading companies and was therefore not subject to sanctions.

“The Commission Service has preliminarily concluded that an urgent consultation does not appear to be necessary as there is currently no indication of an immediate risk to security of supply,” the letter seen by Reuters said.

Slovakia and Hungary, two countries that have opposed Western allies providing military aid to Ukraine as it resists a Russian invasion, have been complaining about Kiev’s move last month to put Lukoil on a sanctions list, saying it prevented them from buying Russian oil for their refineries, threatening supply security.