Hungary\u2019s MOL Group \u2014 the sole oil refiner in Hungary and Slovakia \u2014 has announced it is prepared to replace four-fifths of its Russian oil supplies, marking a potential turning point in the region\u2019s long-standing energy dependence on Moscow. The company\u2019s statement comes just as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n prepares to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reports.<\/p>\n
Until recently, MOL had shared Orb\u00e1n\u2019s view that it was \u201cimpossible to replace Russian oil\u201d and ensure sufficient supplies through the Adria pipeline, which delivers crude from Croatia\u2019s Adriatic coast.<\/p>\n
According to data from CREA, Hungary and Slovakia remain the last two EU buyers of Russian oil. In September, the Druzhba pipeline delivered crude worth \u20ac311 million to the two countries \u2014 53% (\u20ac166 million) to Hungary and 47% (\u20ac145 million) to Slovakia.<\/p>\n
Across the EU, Russia\u2019s share of oil imports has fallen from 26% in 2021 to 3% in 2024, but Hungary has moved in the opposite direction \u2014 increasing its dependence from 61% to 86%. Slovakia, where MOL owns the only refinery, remains 100% dependent on Russian crude.<\/p>\n
MOL stated it is \u201ccautiously advancing\u201d in modernizing its refineries in both countries to expand their capacity to process non-Russian crude.<\/p>\n
MOL\u2019s CEO and Chairman Zsolt Hern\u00e1di is accompanying Orb\u00e1n on his Friday visit to Washington. One of the prime minister\u2019s key goals is reportedly to seek a postponement of the upcoming U.S. sanctions deadline, which bans cooperation with Rosneft and Lukoil \u2014 the companies supplying Russian crude to Hungary \u2014 after November 21.<\/p>\n
Hungarian analysts believe that a one-year extension could significantly ease the transition away from Russian oil, allowing MOL to be mostly ready by late 2026 to handle seaborne crude deliveries via alternative routes. However, if Trump refuses Orb\u00e1n\u2019s request for an extension, MOL could face a very challenging year ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":150555,"menu_order":0,"template":"","newscat":[9],"newstag":[],"issues":[],"class_list":["post-150554","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","newscat-novosti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/150554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"newscat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newscat?post=150554"},{"taxonomy":"newstag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newstag?post=150554"},{"taxonomy":"issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues?post=150554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}