Hungary diversifying but still against Russia oil ban

Hungary has increased crude imports from Kazakhstan this year, partly to diversify its energy supply, but the country remains opposed to an outright ban on Russian oil and gas, Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said today.

"We of course support European efforts to diversify energy supply. We ourselves have worked hard for this, as a result of which we have significantly increased our oil purchases from Kazakhstan," Szijjarto said at a press conference with Kazakh foreign minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi in Nur-Sultan.

Kazakh imports satisfy about 16pc of Hungary's crude demand at present, he said. According to the latest Eurostat figures, Hungary's Kazakh crude imports declined to 1.04mn t last year from 1.22mn t in 2020, but the pace has picked up this year, with deliveries rising to 174,000t in January-February, from 85,000t a year earlier.

Szijjarto reiterated that Budapest will not support any EU sanctions that prohibit transport of oil and gas from Russia to Hungary, noting that 65pc of Hungary's current crude consumption is covered by Urals shipments through the Druzhba pipeline system.

"There is no transportation route that can deliver a similar amount of oil to Hungary as the Druzhba pipeline," Szijjarto said, adding that sanctions on Russian oil would also make it impossible for Hungary to boost imports from Kazakhstan as it can only receive Kazakh crude via Russia.

The EU's foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell indicated earlier that the EU could agree sanctions on Russian oil imports on 16 May. Asked today whether Hungary would veto initiatives for an EU embargo on Russian hydrocarbons, prime minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas said the country "would like to see what proposals are on the table, and whether there is an alternative to replacing raw materials from Russia in these proposals".

By Bela Fincziczki