In July, the Russian oil company Lukoil ceased its oil supplies to Slovakia and Hungary due to sanctions imposed by Ukraine. Since then, Slovakia has made only a marginal reduction in its previously full dependence on Russian oil, whereas Hungary has even temporarily increased its oil imports from Russia see Chart. Budapest appears determined to maintain as close an energy partnership with Moscow as possible, criticising both the government in Kyiv for obstructing the import of Russian oil and the European Commission for approving such actions.
Croatia has emphasised its readiness to increase oil supplies to both Slovakia and Hungary, stating that it could fully meet the demand of the two refineries operating in these countries. Since the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Hungary has maintained its near-unchanged energy dependence on the Russian Federation. However, Budapest has not taken any decisive steps to increase this proportion.
However, no further information regarding the progress of this adaptation has been published. The Hungarian authorities have stressed that the capacity of the Adria oil pipeline 11 mn tonnes annually is insufficient to meet the combined demand of the refineries in Hungary 8. They have highlighted the long-standing cooperation between JANAF and MOL, during which both parties have consistently fulfilled their mutual obligations.
This includes the terms of a contract for the transport of 2. The Croatian side has also emphasised that, through the use of drag-reducing agents DRA , which reduce turbulence in the pipeline during oil flow, the Adria pipeline is capable of transporting The Croatian company maintains that the price for oil transport is determined through negotiations, based on an undisclosed methodology that factors in the length and utilisation level of each specific section of the pipeline.
Therefore, the fees for oil supplies from the Croatian terminal should be economically advantageous for Hungary, as the pipeline to the Hungarian border is only km long compared to the nearly km section of the Druzhba pipeline that runs through Ukraine.
