Croatia has reacted with anger to comments made by the Hungarian foreign minister stating the country was an unreliable partner when it came to oil supplies.
The Croatian oil transit Janaf pipeline is “fully able to meet the crude oil needs of refineries in Bratislava and Budapest,” he added, while also saying that Croatia's oil transit company can handle 1.2 million barrels per month of exports to Hungary.
But Szijjártó’s comments on the “unreliability” of supplies via Croatia were echoed by Slovakia’s foreign minister, Juraj Blanar. “But for what price? What capacity? No one knows that today,” he wrote.
Zsolt Hennadi, the CEO of Hungarian oil company MOL, backed the Hungarian foreign minister over the claims of price hikes. He was cited by Berlin-based Eastern European news service BNE as saying that the Croatians had “raised prices several times and could do so again.”
Hennadi has also said while it would be possible for MOL to continue receiving Russian oil via other routes, converting its refinery to using different types of oil could cost “up to €700 million”. Meanwhile,he denied suggestions that MOL’s production would be affected by the disruption.
Observers point out that while Lukoil’s oil supplies have been denied access to the Ukrainian pipeline route, other Russian supplies are still permitted.
But Szijjártó’s comments on the “unreliability” of supplies via Croatia were echoed by Slovakia’s foreign minister, Juraj Blanar. “But for what price? What capacity? No one knows that today,” he wrote.
Zsolt Hennadi, the CEO of Hungarian oil company MOL, backed the Hungarian foreign minister over the claims of price hikes. He was cited by Berlin-based Eastern European news service BNE as saying that the Croatians had “raised prices several times and could do so again.”
Hennadi has also said while it would be possible for MOL to continue receiving Russian oil via other routes, converting its refinery to using different types of oil could cost “up to €700 million”. Meanwhile,he denied suggestions that MOL’s production would be affected by the disruption.
Observers point out that while Lukoil’s oil supplies have been denied access to the Ukrainian pipeline route, other Russian supplies are still permitted.
Source: TVP World, BNE, Twitter
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