MOL CEO said there would be fuel shortages in Hungary without import

Zsolt Hernádi, the chairman-CEO of Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, on Friday said he informed the government of possible motor fuel supply problems without support to bring imported fuel to Hungary.

If the government’s price caps on fuel remain in place in their current form, there will be no fuel imports coming in to Hungary, Hernádi told the press after meeting Antal Rogán, the head of the cabinet office, and Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister’s chief of staff.

This is important because Hungary is facing a shortage of diesel, and MOL’s refinery in Száhalombatta, near Budapest, is unable to satisfy domestic demand even under normal circumstances, Hernadi said. But, he added, MOL will have to close the refinery for scheduled maintenance work on Monday, which the company could no longer postpone.

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Hernádi said the government had acknowledged his briefing.

He said he had asked the government to make a decision on the matter as soon as possible. Hernádi said he believed the government should enact measures aimed at narrowing the base of beneficiaries of the price caps so that fuel traders will find it worthwhile to bring diesel to Hungary.

Hernádi also noted the extraordinary circumstances in Hungary’s neighbourhood like the war in Ukraine, Austrian peer OMV’s refinery in Schwechat being shut down since May, and last week’s unexpected shutdown of one of Czechia’s two refineries.

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Source: MTI