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Slovakia will not be held “hostage” in Ukraine’s relations with Russia, Prime Minister Robert Fico told his Ukrainian counterpart in a phone call on Saturday (July 20) after Kiev put Russia’s Lukoil on a sanctions list, causing it to stop supplying Russia.
Slovakia and Hungary said this week they had stopped receiving oil from main supplier Lukoil since Ukraine banned Russian energy companies from shipping oil through their territory last month.
For Slovakia, this means the loss of some supplies from its Slovnaft refinery, which is part of Hungarian oil and gas group MOL.
The Slovak government office said on Saturday that Fico had spoken by phone with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal and told him that Slovakia had no intention of “becoming a hostage to Ukraine’s relations with Russia.”
The government said Slovak oil companies would receive 40% less processed oil than they actually needed, which would hit the Slovak market and could also cause Slovak oil companies to stop supplying diesel to Ukraine.
“The inclusion of Lukoil on the sanctions list is just another example of meaningless sanctions that do not harm the Russian Federation but primarily hurt some (EU) member states, which is unacceptable,” Fico’s office said.
Fico has long been critical of sanctions against Russia and halted direct state military aid to Ukraine after taking office for a fourth term last year, facing criticism for his foreign policy being too skewed toward Moscow.
While the European Union has imposed sanctions on Russian crude, some countries, such as Slovakia, have been granted exemptions, giving them more time to switch to alternative energy sources.
Read more by Euractiv
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