Sky-high fuel prices and power outages may come in Hungary after Ukraine ban on Russian oil import
There is no time to waste in finding a solution to the Ukraine ban. Hungary’s strategic reserve is only enough for 90 days, while Ukraine openly said their decision to partly ban Russian oil imports aims to reduce Hungary’s resistance concerning arms deliveries and the country’s EU accession. Will Hungary accept Kyiv’s demands or a kind of “cold war” starts with skyrocketing prices and shortages?
Fuel price hike and power outages in Hungary?
Ukrainian President Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met in Kyiv for the first time on 5 July since the country’s Russian invasion began. The two looked happy after the long negotiation. Orbán talked about peace, and the press reports focused on how Ukraine would modify its laws to help the indigenous Hungarian minority survive in Transcarpathia.
However, it seems the Hungarian government’s peace mission (including Orbán’s visit to Beijing, and Moscow) did not only revolt some politicians in Brussels but urged Ukrainian politicians to do something harmful to win Hungary’s support for arms deliveries and EU accession. This week, for example, Zelensky suggested in a speech in the UK that PM Orbán was a traitor to the alliance since he visited Putin in Moscow.
We wrote on Thursday that Ukraine halted Russian oil giant Lukoil’s supply to Hungarian company MOL Plc. MOL processes around 70% of its oil from Russia and Lukoil’s supply is half of it. The ban comes after a new presidential decree entering into effect in June which tightened sanctions on Lukoil.
Kyiv wants to reduce Moscow’s oil money
FM Szijjártó called the Ukrainian decision “incomprehensible and unacceptable” and said they should find a quick solution. Before, he talked about oil transit through Belarus, but MOL refused to comment. Hungary would be in trouble in the medium term, Szijjártó highlighted. “The Ukrainian decision will seriously impact the security of oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia in the long term,” Szijjártó noted.
Ilona Gizińska, a Hungary expert of the Polish OSW institute (Centre for Eastern Studies) told Politico that “the Ukrainian measures could create a severe situation.” Though Kyiv’s aim is to take out money from Moscow’s war coffers, a side-effect is that Hungary (and Slovakia) may face an energy crisis in the middle of the summer heatwave.
Is Ukraine blackmailing Hungary?
But Ukraine does not seem to be worried because of that side effect. “It’s actually absurd to allow them to make this money by transporting this oil through Ukrainian territory if the money is then being used to kill us,” Inna Sovsun, a Ukrainian lawmaker from the opposition pro-EU Holos party who sits in the parliament’s energy committee, said.
She also made it clear that the ban’s aim was to overturn Hungary’s opposition to arms deliveries to Ukraine and the country’s EU accession.
Politico wrote about alternatives. For example, Hungary could get more oil from Rosneft, another Russian oil giant, or increase supply via the Adria Pipeline from Croatia. Finally, it can use its strategic reserves enough for 90 days. But time is running out.
Read also:
- Concerning: will the Hungarian-Russian gas transport system fall apart? – Read more HERE
- Hungary lies on a hidden treasure, yet this huge energy source remains largely untapped
UPDATE – 22 June, 2024
Hungary initiates procedure against Ukraine, but not alone
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