“Forniture di petrolio non in pericolo”: la Croazia respinge le accuse di carenza di petrolio di Ungheria e Slovacchia

**Croatia has dismissed claims from Hungary and Slovakia that they are suffering from a lack of oil supplies after the two countries accused Ukraine of holding up repairs on a strategically important pipeline.**

Exports from Ukraine via the Druzhba pipeline, a vast system that transports Russian oil from Russia to eastern Europe, have been suspended since January 27 after its section of the pipe was damaged during a Russian attack. 

The governments of [Hungary and Slovakia](https://tvpworld.com/91759032/fico-stops-slovak-emergency-power-to-ukraine-in-druzhba-oil-dispute), which have refused to wean their countries off Russian energy, insist Kyiv is deliberately holding up the pipeline’s restoration, prompting Hungary’s energy ministry to authorize the release of strategic oil reserves. 

But Croatia’s state oil pipeline operator JANAF Plc, a major energy hub for Europe, has accused Hungary and Slovakia of exaggerating the Druzhba shortage, saying that it already provides the two with copious amounts of non-Russian fuel. 

# ‘Entirely unfounded’ 

“Crude oil supply to Central European countries – Hungary and Slovakia – remains [completely unthreatened](https://tvpworld.com/91641335/szijjrto-hits-out-at-croatia-in-russian-oil-transit-spat),” JANAF said in a press release last Friday. 

“At this moment, a significant quantity of non-Russian crude oil is being transported via JANAF’s pipeline for MOL Group, while three additional tankers carrying non-Russian oil, also for MOL Group, are on their way to the Omišalj Terminal. 

“Claims that the mentioned countries would be on the verge of fuel supply disruptions are entirely unfounded,” the pipeline operator concluded, adding: “There was no need to tap into their reserves.” 

# Reliance on Russian energy 

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, EU leaders agreed to phase out dependency on Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible. Russian gas and oil imports to the EU have both decreased significantly as a result.  

But Russian imports remain substantial, and Moscow-friendly Hungary and Slovakia are two of the EU’s largest importers. The countries argue that breaking away from Russian energy would endanger their economic securities. 

In response to the Druzhba shortage, the two countries asked Croatia to help secure Russian crude by sea via the Adriatic and through the Adria pipeline. 

But Croatia refused, saying it is time to stop what it called [“war profiteering.”](https://tvpworld.com/91727129/hungary-kyiv-accuse-the-other-of-blackmail-in-energy-spat) 

Croatia’s Economy Minister Ante Šušnjar said in a post on X: “A barrel bought from Russia may appear cheaper to some countries, but helps fund war and attacks on Ukrainian people.”  

# Hungarian election ploy 

In recent days, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned he would stop diesel shipments to Ukraine and block sanctions packages on Russia until Ukraine resumed fuel supplies.  

In turn, Poland’s foreign minister accused Hungary of showing a [“shocking” lack of solidarity](https://tvpworld.com/91770691/polands-sikorski-confident-90bn-eu-loan-for-ukraine-will-go-ahead) for Ukraine and said he believed the Hungarian government was creating a climate of hostility towards Kyiv as part of its election campaign. 

“I would have expected a much greater feeling of solidarity from Hungary for Ukraine,” Radosław Sikorski told reporters in Brussels on Monday. 

“Instead, with the help of state propaganda…the ruling party managed to create a climate of hostility towards the victim of aggression. And now it’s trying to exploit that in the general election.” 

# MOL’s insider trading? 

Meanwhile, the National Bank of Hungary has launched a probe into the MOL group for [alleged insider trading](https://tvpworld.com/91631446/hungary-slovakia-seek-russian-oil-transit-via-croatia-after-druzhba-disruption-), Reuters news agency reported. 

The probe reportedly concerns the sale of MOL shares by MOL officials at record prices in the days following the January 27 halt of shipments on the Druzhba pipeline – before the shortage was publicly announced and their value began to decline. 

MOL told Reuters in an emailed statement that the company’s executives had executed their share transactions in accordance with the law and that the disclosure of the transactions was also carried out through legal channels.