Hungary says it is being ‘blackmailed’ by Ukraine over oil flows

An aide to Hungary’s prime minister on Friday accused Ukraine of blackmailing Hungary and Slovakia by halting oil deliveries after the countries stopped receiving oil from Russian group Lukoil.

Eastern EU neighbors Slovakia and Hungary have increased pressure after they said last week they had stopped receiving the raw material from Russian group Lukoil via Ukraine due to Kyiv placing the company on a sanctions list.

On Monday, they asked the European Commission to use an association agreement based on which they said Ukraine could not block oil transits.

“Ukraine is blackmailing the two countries that are standing for peace and ceasefire,” Gergely Gulyas told a news conference. “If the situation is not resolved, there will be a fuel shortage… a solution must be found by September.”

The Ukrainian energy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico have both criticised sanctions against Russia and Western military aide to Ukraine.

The EU imposed sanctions on Russian oil in 2022 although Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic gained exemptions due their reliance.

On Wednesday Fitch Ratings said refineries in Slovakia and Hungary, owned by Hungarian group MOL, faced significant credit risk following Ukraine’s decision to sanction Russian oil producer Lukoil.

Slovakia called on the European Commission on Thursday not to delay a decision on mediating a consultation procedure with Ukraine.

Gulyas said Budapest was looking for solutions.

“One is that the Ukrainians admit that they cannot do this to two EU countries,” he said. “Another is that the European Commission helps us, and the third is that we find a legal loophole that allows the oil to be transferred by someone not affected by the sanctions.”

Hungary’s EU Affairs Minister Janos Boka said that Hungary was examining whether Ukraine’s actions breached World Trade Organisation regulations.