Page 88 - RusRPTAug23

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Hungary wants to keep buying Russian oil products for its oil refiner, Slovnaft. Hungary plans to ask the EU for a one-year extension of the sanctions exemption for oil refiner Slovnaft, allowing it to export products made from Russian oil to Czechia, said Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. After a meeting with his Slovak counterpart Miroslav Wlachovský, Szijjártó noted that MOL, a Hungarian oil and gas company, needs one more year to complete refitting at Slovnaft that would allow a further shift from Russian crude oil, Reuters wrote. MOL's refineries use Russian crude oil delivered through the Druzhba pipeline, transiting through Ukraine. Reuters cited MOL's chairman Zsolt Hernadi that the company plans to partially finance the $500mn-$700mn in technological investment needed to diversify its oil deliveries with the support of EU subsidies. Hungary and Slovakia are major importers of Russian crude, with 80% and 95% of their 2022 crude oil supplies coming from Russia.
The EU must invest an extra €700B annually to shift away from Russian fossil fuels. According to a draft report from the bloc's executive arm, the European Union must invest an additional €700B a year to green the economy and shut out cheap Russian fossil fuels. Most of that figure will have to be privately sourced, the European Commission said, as reported by Bloomberg. The vast sum is significantly higher than that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested less than two years ago, underlining the escalating costs of reaching the EU's net zero goals. “The green transition requires unprecedented investments,” the commission said in its Strategic Foresight report, which is still subject to change before publication Wednesday. The EU, targeting a 55% cut in emissions this decade, needs to boost spending on clean technologies amid growing competition from the US and China. The bloc must also ensure energy security as it weans itself off Russian gas while tackling rising borrowing costs and huge debt built up by companies during the pandemic.
88 RUSSIA Country Report August 2023 www.intellinews.com