A fire has broken out at the MOL oil refinery in Bratislava/Pozsony, with witnesses reporting at least one enormous explosion – here is what we know so far.

Explosion and fire at MOL oil refinery in Bratislava/Pozsony

A fire erupted on Friday at the MOL oil refinery complex in Bratislava, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said at the Government Information Centre briefing, citing freshly arrived information. According to the official account, a storage tank caught fire; there were no injuries and the incident is not expected to have any implications for supply security, the Hungarian news agency reported.

MOL oil refinery in fire in Bratislava in Slovakia
Photo: PrtScr/Twitter/SvitekPeter

The Bratislava-based Új Szó daily reported that the blaze was preceded by damage to one of the tanks storing petroleum products, after which the contents ignited. Anton Molnár, an MOL spokesman, said it involved a double-walled tank that complies with the strictest safety regulations.

mol oil refinery tiszaújváros explosion
Illustration: the MOL plant in Tiszaújváros. Photo: MOL

The company said the fire did not spread to other technological units or storage tanks and did not disrupt refinery operations. No one was injured in the accident.

Fire to be extinguished shortly

By the time reporters arrived, little smoke could be seen at the scene and the flames had practically died down. According to the MOL spokesman, the fire would be completely extinguished within a short time.Local witnesses said there had been an explosion at the refinery, clearly audible across the surrounding area. They described windows in several nearby buildings shaking as thick smoke rose above the oil refinery.

Here is a video of the fire:

The Slovnaft refinery, owned by MOL, processes Russian crude oil and has a maximum capacity of 6.1 million tonnes a year, equivalent to 124,000 barrels of crude oil per day when running at full tilt. It is regarded as one of Europe’s most complex refineries and is of key importance to MOL, as well as to fuel supplies in the region, portfolio.hu wrote.

Firefighters in action
Illustration. Photo: Anadolu/State Emergency Service of Ukraine

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The owners of MOL

MOL is widely considered as a Hungarian state-owned company although it has multiple owners:

  • Foreign Investors: ~31.2% (mostly international institutional funds)
  • MOL-New Europe Foundation: 10.49%
  • Maecenas Universitatis Corvini Foundation: 10.00%
  • Mathias Corvinus Collegium Foundation (MCC): 10.00%
  • Domestic Institutional Investors: ~9.0%
  • MOL Plc. Employee Share Ownership Programme (ESOP): ~8.0%
  • Domestic Retail Investors: ~5.3%
  • OTP Bank Plc. + OTP Fund Management: 5.16%
  • UniCredit Bank AG: 4.20%
  • ING Bank N.V.: 4.18%
  • MOL Plc. Treasury Shares: ~2.5% [1]

However, he Hungarian State directly holds only the single “Series B” voting preference share (golden share), which grants veto rights over key strategic decisions.

Huge explosion at MOL plant in Hungary leaves one dead, several injured