Hungary plans to ask the EU for a one-year extension of the sanctions exemption for oil refiner Slovnaft, allowing it to export products made from Russian oil to Czechia, said Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
After a meeting with his Slovak counterpart Miroslav Wlachovský, Szijjártó noted that MOL, a Hungarian oil and gas company, needs one more year to complete refitting at Slovnaft that would allow a further shift from Russian crude oil, Reuters wrote. MOL’s refineries use Russian crude oil delivered through the Druzhba pipeline, transiting through Ukraine.
Reuters cited MOL’s chairman Zsolt Hernadi that the company plans to partially finance the $500 million-$700 million in technological investment needed to diversify its oil deliveries with the support of EU subsidies. Hungary and Slovakia are major importers of Russian crude, with 80% and 95% of their 2022 crude oil supplies coming from Russia.