Al Jazeera reported that at a press conference in Budapest on July 26, Chief of Staff of the Hungarian Prime Minister Gergely Gulyas accused Ukraine of blackmailing Hungary and Slovakia by blocking Russian crude oil from transiting through its territory.
Previously, on July 22, Hungary and Slovakia jointly initiated consultation procedures with the European Union (EU) against Ukraine in response to Kiev's decision to stop crude oil transportation by Russian oil company Lukoil. .
Mr. Gulyas said this poses a serious danger to the energy security of Hungary and Slovakia.
According to Mr. Gulyas, a solution must be found before September, otherwise Hungary will begin to lack oil.
"One is that Ukraine admits it cannot do this to two EU countries . Two is that the European Commission helps us, and three is that we find a legal loophole to transport oil without being affected by sanctions" - Mr. Gulyas explained.
However, he reassured the public that there was no need to worry because Hungary's oil reserves were abundant.
Early last week, Slovakia and Hungary said they had stopped receiving oil from main supplier Lukoil after Ukraine imposed a ban on oil shipments from the Russian energy company through its territory last month.
Hungary receives 2 million tons of oil from the Russian company every year, accounting for about a third of the country's total oil imports.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico separately stated that Bratislava will not become a "hostage" in Russia-Ukraine relations.
Despite EU sanctions against Russia, Hungary and Slovakia - two landlocked countries - continue to receive Russian natural gas and oil through Ukraine.
Daily News Hungary reported that in the context that Ukraine may block all Russian oil supplies through the Druzhba oil pipeline, three Russian oil companies have begun redirecting oil to seaports.
These companies were able to exploit a "legal loophole" to ship oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Adriatic pipeline from Croatia. However, there is a problem: this pipeline has a much more limited capacity than the two countries need.
Tamás Pletser, analyst at Erste Befektetési Plc., told RTL News that "if supply through the Druzhba pipeline stops, it means that in the short term, Hungary's MOL Group will be in a difficult situation, because the Adriatic pipeline can supply oil from the sea, but cannot fully meet the needs of MOL's two refineries."
According to the Hungarian News Agency (MTI), Slovakia said it has proposed a technical solution to Ukraine to restore oil supplies to refineries in Slovakia and Hungary, following warnings that a partial shutdown could lead to fuel shortages as early as early September.
