2026-02-19 12:47
publication
2026-02-19 12:47
Gergely Gulyas, head of the office of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, announced on Thursday the release of strategic oil reserves. On Monday, the oil company MOL requested this. The politician added that the Hungarian government is also considering suspending the export of electricity and gas to Ukraine.
– The government has released strategic oil reserves that will last for three months. MOL has already ordered 500,000. tons of Russian oil to be supplied via Croatia, Gulyas said during a press conference.
He added that the government in Budapest “was forced on Wednesday to discuss Hungary's energy security and energy supply.” On Wednesday, after the government meeting, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced the suspension of diesel supplies to Ukraine, noting that transport can be restored only after Ukraine resumes the transit of crude oil through the Druzhba pipeline.
These deliveries were suspended on January 27 after – as reported by the Ukrainian side – a Russian attack on energy infrastructure. In response to the suspension of transit, the Hungarian oil company MOL asked the government on Monday to release strategic reserves of the raw material, and the government asked Croatia to allow the transport of Russian oil via the Adria pipeline. The raw material is to reach Hungary via this route in mid-March.
The Hungarian authorities accused Kyiv of deliberately suspending oil transport. According to Szijjarto, this “political blackmail” is intended to put pressure on Hungary to meet demands regarding “support for the war, allowing Hungarians to export money to Ukraine and allowing Ukraine to join the EU.”
Gulyas announced on Thursday that the Hungarian government is also considering the possibility of suspending supplies of electricity and natural gas to Ukraine.
The government of neighboring Slovakia announced a state of emergency related to oil supplies on Wednesday. The Slovak authorities also agreed to lend the Slovnaft refinery in Bratislava up to PLN 250,000. tons of oil from strategic reserves. Prime Minister Robert Fico expressed the view that the damage to the Druzhba pipeline in Ukraine has already been repaired, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is deliberately suspending deliveries, which – according to the authorities in Bratislava – is intended to harm Slovakia. Fico referred to reports from Slovak intelligence services.
Jakub Bawołek from Budapest (PAP)
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