Hungary threatened to cut off electricity and gas to Ukraine

“We are considering the option of stopping gas and electricity exports to Ukraine, unless they resume the transfer of crude oil from Russia through the Druzhba pipeline. We are coordinating with Slovakia in this move,” Gergely Gulyas, Chief of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office, said today.

Mr. Gulyas added that the Hungarian government opened the strategic oil reserve at the request of the national oil corporation MOL. “We will take further countermeasures if the Ukrainian government does not change its decision and continues to block the Druzhba pipeline under false pretenses,” he said.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico previously also raised the possibility of stopping emergency power supply to Ukraine. “According to the intelligence we obtained, everything has been repaired and the Druzhba pipeline is technically ready to transfer oil,” he said.

Mr. Fico said that the Slovak government has decided to mobilize 250,000 tons of oil from the national reserve for the Slovnaft oil refining company to produce goods to meet domestic demand, affirming that there is no shortage of domestic petroleum products.

Hungary and Slovakia are two countries that still use Russian oil supplied through the Druzhba pipeline. This system stopped working on January 27, Ukraine said that the cause was Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) damaging the pipeline infrastructure.

However, Hungary and Slovakia accused Ukraine of delaying the resumption of oil transportation through the Druzhba pipeline for political purposes. Officials of two Eastern European countries on February 18 announced the suspension of diesel exports to Ukraine.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has repeatedly strongly opposed the possibility of Ukraine joining the European Union (EU). Hungary and Slovakia still maintain good relations with Russia after the Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022.

According to Kiev-based consulting firm ExPro, Hungary and Slovakia provided about 68% of Ukraine’s electricity imports this month. Gas from Hungary accounts for a third of Ukraine’s current total imports.

On February 18, Hungarian officials announced that they and Slovakia had asked the European Commission (EC) to approve an exception allowing the two countries to buy Russian crude oil by sea, despite the EU ban.

Russian oil purchased in this way will be transported by the Adriatic pipeline through Croatian territory. However, the Croatian Ministry of Economy announced that the country’s pipeline will not deliver Russian oil products to Hungary and Slovakia.