The new plan could be more expensive and risky, Gergely Goyash, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, told Reuters, as MOL seeks alternative solutions after Kiev banned exports from Russia’s Lukoil through the Druzhba pipeline that runs through Ukraine.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday that negotiations had “entered the final stages” to find a solution following Kiev’s unilateral decision to block oil supplies from Russia to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline under the pretext of imposing sanctions on Lukoil last July.
After the transit was stopped, Bratislava and Budapest demanded the immediate start of consultations with Ukraine mediated by the European Commission, stressing that Kyiv’s actions constitute a gross violation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, but the European Commission did not take any action in this regard.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has previously indicated that Kiev, with the approval of its Western sponsors, decided to blackmail Hungary and Slovakia by blocking oil supplies.
Moscow noted that the new round of legal pressure on Lukoil, whose oil is purchased by Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, coincided with peaceful diplomatic initiatives launched by Budapest aimed at reaching a quick solution to the conflict in Ukraine, as well as with Budapest and Bratislava’s refusal to “obediently support” Brussels in imposing further illegal sanctions on Russia.
Source: Agencies
#Reuters #Hungarian #company #ready #assume #obligations #transit #Russian #oil #Ukraine
2024-08-23 10:04:56
