Hungary to assist construct oil pipeline to ship Russian crude to Serbia

Hungary has stated it is going to assist construct a pipeline to move Russian crude to Serbia in an effort to make sure continued oil provide to Belgrade regardless of EU sanctions.

Serbia will get its oil provide primarily through Croatia and the Adriatic Sea — a hyperlink that shall be severed when the EU enforces a ban on Russian seaborne crude from December. Nevertheless, Hungary will nonetheless obtain Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, which is exempt from the EU ban.

“The brand new oil pipeline would allow Serbia to be equipped with cheaper (Russian) crude oil, connecting to the Friendship oil pipeline,” Hungarian authorities spokesman Zoltán Kovács stated on Monday, referring to the Druzhba pipeline.

Kovács stated the challenge was a part of a long-term ambition from Hungary to diversify the area’s power infrastructure.

The remark confirms an announcement final weekend from Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić, who stated the plan was to hyperlink the 2 international locations inside two years.

“Croatia has proved to be an unreliable provider,” he stated.

Landlocked Serbia and Hungary each rely closely on Russian fossil fuels and power partnerships with Moscow. Vučić and Hungarian premier Viktor Orbán met final week in Budapest the place they agreed to tug the 2 international locations’ power sectors nearer collectively.

“We think about long-term, large-scale power co-operation with Serbia,” Orbán stated on the time. “We need to join our system. From an possession perspective, we additionally need to join our giant power manufacturing and transport programs.”

The plan, Vučić stated, was to hyperlink up Serbia to southern Hungary at a price of €100mn, with a doable extension to the Albanian Adriatic port of Durrës, through North Macedonia.

Winter provides pose a extra fast problem, nevertheless. Vučić stated Serbia had about 200,000 tons price of crude reserves and sufficient gasoline to final about two months.