The European Commission has urged Hungary and Slovakia to shake off their dependency on Russian oil after the two Central European countries complained to Brussels over Ukraine's tightening of sanctions on their supplier, Russian oil giant Lukoil. The EC also stated that oil supplies to the two countries are not at immediate risk from Ukraine's move.

Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s Commissioner for Trade,  stated that “diversification away from Russian fossil fuels should be actively pursued” in a letter addressed to the governments in Bratislava and Budapest quoted by the Financial Times.

The letter comes in response to calls by Hungary and Slovakia for the EU to intervene over the threat of decreased flows of Russian oil after Ukraine tightened sanctions against Lukoil, which now affect oil transit too. Hungary and Slovakia, like Czechia, are exempted from the EU’s sanctions on Russian pipeline oil imports until the end of this year when the oil transit through Ukraine provision is also set to end.  

Dombrovskis' letter comes following strong statements by the populist leadership in both countries, with Hungary’s head diplomat Peter Szijjarto saying that Hungary will continue to block the disbursement of funds from the European Peace Facility (EPF) for Ukraine, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatening to stop sending diesel fuel to Ukraine.

“The Commission’s current analysis points to an adequate capacity for Hungary and Slovakia via alternative pipelines such as the Janaf Adriatic pipeline,” Dombrovskis’ letter says. Ukrainian move did not cause an “immediate problem” EU spokesperson stated earlier – it only affects Lukoil imports, which amount to 2mn tonnes a year.

The letter added that EU member state representatives discussed the decreased oil imports to Hungary and Slovakia last week when “a significant number … questioned why Hungary and Slovakia had apparently not yet explored alternatives so far”.

Central European EU member countries were given exemptions from EU sanctions to deal with their high dependency on Russian oil, but Hungary has actually increased its dependence on Russian oil during the window of opportunity.

Separately, Croatian PM Andrej Plenkovic stated that Croatian oil pipeline operator JANAF is ready to step in with oil transportation to Hungary and Slovakia, Southeast Europe online news server Seenews reported.

“Yesterday I sent a letter to the prime ministers of Hungary Viktor Orban and Slovakia Robert Fico and to the head of the European commission Ursula von der Leyen in which I expressed the readiness of Croatia and JANAF to enable transportation of oil to the refineries Szazhalombatta and Bratislava in a capacity of more than 14mn tonnes,” Seenews quoted Plenkovic as saying at a cabinet session on August 1.

Hungarian MOL controls the refineries in Hungary and Slovakia and is also the largest shareholder in Croatia’s oil and gas company INA.

“JANAF, as a company, is ready to negotiate with MOL about transportation and energy security in the changed circumstances,” Plenkovic also said.  

The majority-state-owned JANAF can transport 34mn tonnes of crude oil annually, Seenews noted, adding that the pipeline was constructed for the needs of refiners and users in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Serbia as well as Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia.