Peter Magyar spoke out against the construction of oil storage facilities for Ukraine in Hungary
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar stated that his government will not allow the construction of oil storage facilities on Hungarian territory intended to meet Ukraine’s needs.
Naftogaz announced on Sunday that it had signed a memorandum with the Hungarian company MOL regarding the construction of oil product storage facilities for Ukraine’s needs on Hungarian territory near the Ukrainian-Hungarian border. This was explained by the need to create additional capacity outside the range of Russian shelling.
This issue was discussed in parliament on Monday with Prime Minister Péter Magyar in attendance. “Péter Magyar stated: ‘As long as the ‘Tisza’ government is in power in Hungary, there will be no Ukrainian oil storage facility in the country,’” the publication quotes the Hungarian prime minister as saying.
According to Magyar, MOL began negotiations with Naftogaz regarding the possibility of storing oil in Hungary back during the Viktor Orbán administration. At the same time, the current government considers it unacceptable that the company conducted negotiations with the Ukrainian side without the consent of the current government.
MOL stated that the process is currently only in the initial preparation stage, which could take years. As part of this process, the technical, financial, and regulatory conditions for storing oil in Hungary will be examined. Given the lengthy process that lies ahead, the government has not yet been informed.
On Monday, Bence Retvári, the leader of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) parliamentary caucus, commented on these plans and asked Péter Magyar why they had to learn about them from the Ukrainian press. According to Retvári, the Ukrainian side does not want to build such a facility on its own territory due to fears that the Russian army might bomb it.
In his view, moving the storage facility to Hungary would mean shifting this risk across the border, which would pose a threat to Hungary’s national security, especially for the country’s eastern regions.
In response, Magyar stated that negotiations between MOL and Naftogaz had begun under the previous Orbán government. According to him, MOL conducted negotiations with the Ukrainian side without the government’s consent, which the current cabinet does not accept.
Mátyás also said that he had informed MOL CEO Zsolt Hernádi of this the previous evening. He stated that he considers the company’s actions unacceptable and expects MOL to treat the Hungarian state as the owner of a 25% stake in the company.
This was reported by Nepszava.
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