Eastern Europe was at the Center for New Economic and Political Disputes Following the Decision of Ukraine to stop the transit of Russian oil through its territory. This step concerning Oil from Lukoil has caused considerable resonance in Budapest and Bratislava and has jeopardized energy supply to these countries, Bloomberg reports.
Hungary and Slovakia, which buy a third of their raw oil from Lukoil, accused the Zelensky government of encroaching on their energy security. They instructed the European Union to be a mediator in solving and threatened to use the dispute settlement mechanism if their request was not fulfilled.
But, probably, Budapest and Bratislava will not find much sympathy in Brussels. They received temporary exemption from EU energy imposed on Moscow to find alternative sources of supply. More than two years have passed, but none of the countries has been able to completely get rid of "attachment to Russian energy", says the publication.
The Hungarian company MOL is expanding the opportunities for oil processing from other sources. But at the same time, the government of Viktor Orban increases the rate on energy contracts with Russia, which causes annoyance in Kiev and its partners on the EU and NATO, the article said.
It is unclear whether Ukraine will concede to a dispute about cheese oil, as Bulgaria did last year after a short -lived attempt to introduce Russian gas transit tax. At that time, Budapest called this event a "hostile step", which threatens its economy, resembles Bloomberg.
