Hungarian CEO confident in country’s oil supply despite Ukraine’s Lukoil transit block

Hungary will not face oil shortages due to Ukraine's decision to block Lukoil PJSC's crude transit, according to Zsolt Hernadi, CEO of Hungarian oil and gas conglomerate MOL Group.

“Let’s not panic,” Hernadi said to audience members at a conference on Monday.

He said that Hungary has 90 days of strategic reserves, with the option to buy Russian crude via Croatia.

This statement contradicts concerns raised by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government and Slovakia, which sought EU intervention.

However, the EU dismissed these worries, stating that Ukraine’s sanctions against Lukoil will not impact transit operations using the Druzhba pipeline.

EU ambassadors are not sympathetic to Budapest's and Bratislava's complaints about Kyiv blocking the flow of Russian pipeline oil, Politico reported on July 29, citing behind-the-scene talks among European diplomats.

While EU officials publicly promised to review the matter, they privately voiced exasperation as neither Hungary nor Slovakia managed to reduce their dependency on Russian oil while many other member states did.

Fico criticizes Kyiv’s sanctions against Russian oil in call with Shmyhal

“Slovakia doesn’t intend to be a hostage to Ukrainian-Russian relations,” Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico reportedly said.

The Kyiv IndependentAbbey Fenbert