Page 10 - EurOil Week 21 2022

EurOil POLICY EurOil

Hungary pushes against

sanctions

HUNGARY PRIME Minister Viktor Orban has proposed on Russian crude.
leaving the European Union’s latest package of Budapest warned that the ban on Russian
sanctions against Russia off the agenda of the oil would deliver a price shock to the country’s
next meeting of the European Council at the end households and economy.
of May, claiming “solutions must precede sanc- Hungarian government officials requested
tions”, referring to a broad-based financial pack- that pipeline deliveries should be exempt from
age to help countries, such as Hungary, to reduce the embargo.
their dependence on Russian energy imports. Last week, the commission presented a
Two days after he held a videoconference with €210bn plan dubbed REPowerEU, which sets
the president of the European Council, Orban out proposals for ditching Russian fossil fuels
informed Charles Michel that Hungary is not in by 2027. While there were encouraging signals
the position to approve the EU’s sixth package of in the plan, Orban wrote that it failed to address
sanctions, as it is unlikely that a solution can be Hungary’s concerns because there was “no fund-
reached “in light of the gravity of the questions ing for the most concerned landlocked member
that remain unanswered”. states, such as Hungary”.
Discussing the sanctions package at the lead- Brussels has earmarked €2bn for Central
ers’ level in the absence of consensus would be European nations to invest in new infrastruc-
“counterproductive and only highlight our inter- ture, but it decided to channel it through the
nal divisions without offering a realistic chance Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Hun-
to resolve differences”, he added. gary has not yet clinched a deal with the com-
The European Council will hold a summit on mission for the RRF because of EU concerns
May 30-31 to discuss the latest round of sanc- about breaches of the rule of law, the Financial
tions on Russia. Times reported.
The European Commission proposed to Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto
extend sanctions to crude oil and refined prod- said the overhaul of the country’s energy struc-
ucts from Russia in May, and spent much of the ture (not just oil, but gas, electricity, and nuclear)
month trying to convince member states to sup- will require an investment in a magnitude of
port the proposals. €15bn-18bn.
A number of states initially expressed con- MOL officials confirmed that the conversion
cerns, but only Hungary stands opposed to the of MOL refineries to process non-Russian crude
sweeping embargo. The Hungarian premier was in Slovakia and Hungary would take 2-4 years
personally lobbied in Budapest by Commission and cost $500mn-700mn.
President Ursula von der Leyen and by telephone A growing number of voices in the EU argued
by French President Emmanuel Macron, to no that the oil embargo should be imposed simply
avail. by leaving Hungary out. The German economy
Hungary’s government has demanded solu- minister suggested that the EU could approve
tions to the problems caused by a proposed oil the ban without Budapest, but later in Davos, he
embargo. The landlocked country gets close to softened his position and said different solutions
two-thirds of its oil from Russia via pipeline, and are needed for different countries and he expects
the country’s main refinery is technically reliant Hungary to work on a solution. ™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 21 27•May•2022