The proposed European Union embargo on Russian oil would increase gas prices by 55% in Hungary, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in an interview published today in the Spanish newspaper El País, explaining his opposition to the measure of the European bloc.
“In order to replace the pipeline coming from Russia, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the pipeline coming from the Adriatic Sea, something that would require 200 million euros and we do not know how long it will last,” Sigiarto said. “The increase in the price of gas in Hungary would be 55%,” he continued.
He recalled that Hungary is an enclosed country and completely dependent on Russian gas and oil.
“Our refinery is designed for Russian oil. To refine another, we will have to invest between 500 and 550 million euros in four years,” he added.
And, according to him, the bill for Hungary will not stop there, because it would also be necessary “to finance the process of modernization of the entire energy system to avoid a 55% increase in prices, which is unbearable for the population. “.
“At the moment we have not presented such a plan,” he said. The “reasonable” solution, he said, would be to impose an embargo on Russian oil in maritime imports, but to keep pipeline imports unaffected.
Hungary is asking its EU partners for guarantees of its energy supply as a condition of agreeing to a sixth package of sanctions against Moscow, including a halt to oil purchases by Russia.
In an interview with El País, the Hungarian Foreign Minister also noted that about 700,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Hungary since the beginning of the Russian invasion, about 100,000 are still in this country of ten million people.
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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