Slovakia threatens to suspend the supply of petroleum products to Ukraine over sanctions against Russian Lukoil.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico spoke over the telephone with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal, during which he criticized the inclusion of the Russian company Lukoil, whose oil is also used by the Slovnaft refinery, on the sanctions list. Fico considers these sanctions “senseless” because, in his opinion, they do not harm Moscow, but mainly certain EU member states.

“Slovakia does not intend to be a hostage of Ukrainian-Russian relations, and the decision of the Ukrainian president means that the Slovak oil refinery Slovnaft, which is part of the Hungarian MOL group, will receive 40% less oil products than it needs for processing,” Fico said.

According to him, this will not only impact the Slovak market but may also lead to the cessation of supplies of oil products produced at Slovnaft being delivered to Ukraine, which, as Fico noted, is almost 10% of all Ukrainian consumption.

In June, Ukraine significantly expanded sanctions against Lukoil, including a ban on transit of its products through Ukraine.