Hungary’s Szijjártó: MOL to supply more oil, fuel to Serbia amid sanctions

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Péter Szijjártó said Serbia can count on an increase in supply of oil and fuel from MOL, as NIS is now under US sanctions. However, it cannot fully replace the volume that was coming through Croatia, he warned and stressed that it shows the risk of depending on a single oil pipeline.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Serbian oil refiner and fuel distributor NIS, controlled by Russian Gazprom’s subsidiaries. Except for a small share of domestic production, the company was getting all its oil through the Croatian Jadranski naftovod (JANAF) pipeline. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said the country’s only refinery, in Pančevo, can only operate until the end of the month, while that the current stockpiles of derivatives can last until the end of the year.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó promised assistance. “Of course, we stand by our Serbian friends. We are in constant contact, and since MOL, as the largest energy company in the region, plays an important role in the supply of crude oil and fuel in Serbia, of course our Serbian friends can also count on MOL’s increased deliveries,” he stated.

Serbia’s only refinery has oil only until the end of the month

At the same time, the Hungarian official acknowledged that it cannot fully replace the volume that was coming via Croatia.

“Therefore, everyone should remember once again as a very important lesson: there are very serious risks in the situation when a country depends on a single oil pipeline, especially if it comes from Croatia,” Szijjártó stressed.

Namely, the government in Budapest has been complaining that JANAF’s oil transport fees were too high and it disputed the Croatian state-owned pipeline operator’s ability to cover the entire needs of MOL’s refineries in Hungary and Slovakia. The company still gets Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline as well.

According to the Energy Community Secretariat, oil and petroleum product stocks in Serbia in July amounted to 43.8 days of average net imports, compared to the required 90 days.