Hungary, Slovakia Turn to Croatia to Secure Russian Oil

Hungary and Slovakia have asked Croatia to help them secure Russian oil and Hungarian company MOL initiated the release of strategic crude reserves after disruption to flows via Ukraine that the two countries have blamed on Kyiv.

Kyiv's foreign ministry last week said a Russian attack on a Ukrainian pipeline was responsible for the halt in flows to Eastern Europe since January 27.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha posted a photo on X of firefighters and what he said was Druzhba pipeline infrastructure burning, accusing Hungary of not publicly commenting on the incident for two weeks because its ally Russia was to blame.

That drew a swift response from Hungary, which accused the Ukrainians of switching off power to that section of the pipeline.

On Sunday, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico accused Ukraine of delaying the restart of a pipeline in order to pressure Hungary to drop its opposition to Ukraine's future membership of the European Union.

CROATIAN HELP VIA THE ADRIA PIPELINE

On Monday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijarto in a post on X said Hungary and Slovakia had asked Croatia to permit Russian oil flows via the Adria pipeline instead.

"We request Croatia to enable the transport of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Adria pipeline, as our sanctions exemption provides the possibility to import Russian oil by sea if pipeline deliveries are disrupted," Szijarto wrote on X.

"The security of a country's energy supply must never be an ideological issue. We therefore expect Croatia, unlike Ukraine, not to endanger the oil supply security of Hungary and Slovakia for political reasons."

Croatian Economy Minister Ante Susnjar said his country should be able to help.

"Croatia will not allow Central Europe's fuel supply to be endangered. We are ready to help solve the acute disruption," he said, adding that its cooperation would comply with EU law and the regulations of the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The Adria oil pipeline runs from the Croatian port of Omisalj to oil refineries in Croatia and others in southern and central Europe.

HUNGARY'S MOL INITIATES THE RELEASE OF STRATEGIC RESERVES

Hungary's oil company MOL said on Monday that it contacted the Hungarian government to initiate the release of strategic crude oil reserves to maintain security of supply in the region.

"If shipments from the east do not resume in the coming days, Hungary may need to release approximately 250,000 tons of strategic crude oil reserves in the first round," MOL said in a statement.

To make up for the shortfall, MOL also said it has started supplying its refineries with seaborne crude oil.

The first shipments are expected to arrive at the port of Omisalj in Croatia in early March. After that, it will take a further 5-12 days for the crude oil to reach its refineries.

Hungary and Slovakia both hold exemptions to EU sanctions on Russian piped oil. They rely on Russian oil and gas and have fought EU moves to end those flows as part of efforts to cut off energy revenue funding Russia's war in Ukraine.

A European Commission spokesperson on Monday confirmed the EU had been in close contact with Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia and that Druzhba flows had been halted since January 27.

RUBIO-ORBAN MEETING

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has maintained strong ties with Moscow since Russia's invasion of Ukraine while also forging ties with U.S. President Donald Trump.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Orban in Budapest on Monday, having visited Slovakia on Sunday, where energy was among the topics he discussed with Prime Minister Robert Fico.

The Kremlin said on Monday that it agreed with Fico, who has accused Ukraine of holding up the restart of the Druzhba pipeline to try to pressure Hungary to drop its opposition to Ukraine's potential future membership of the EU.

Russia's Druzhba was already under strain prior to the alleged incident in January as a result of Ukrainian drone attacks on the pipeline within Russia.

Russian flows via the pipeline's southern section fell to a 10-year low of 9.7 million metric tons last year, with Slovakia receiving 4.9 million and Hungary some 4.35 million, according to Ukrainian consultancy ExPro.

(Reuters)