Hungary and Slovakia strike new energy pipeline deal for stable regional supply

Budapest, Hungary — Hungary and Slovakia have agreed to build a pipeline to transport oil products such as gasoline and diesel, in what Slovakia’s energy ministry called Tuesday a step toward improving the stability of energy supplies in the region.

The pipeline, which will connect Hungary’s refinery with Slovakia’s refinery in the capital Bratislava, will be 127 kilometers (79 miles) long and have the capacity to transport 1.5 million tonnes of gas and diesel per year, the ministry said.

Work to connect the two refineries owned by Hungary’s Mol Group should be completed by the first half of 2027, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto signed the deal from Brussels on Monday.

The energy connection “adds further value from the point of view of Hungary’s energy supply and diesel supply, but also helps combat the effects of wars around the world,” Szijjarto said.

The deal comes as Hungary and Slovakia, two European Union countries that continue to import Russian oil, are locked in a bitter feud with Ukraine over access to pipeline supplies crossing Ukrainian territory.

Russian oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline have been disrupted since late January. Ukraine says Russian drone strikes damaged the pipeline’s infrastructure and that repairing it would endanger technicians.

Even if restored, Ukrainian officials say the pipeline could be vulnerable to further Russian attacks.

The governments of Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of deliberately withholding Russian crude supplies and vowed to take strong countermeasures against Kyiv until oil flows resume. Hungary’s government has already frozen a 90-billion-euro ($104 billion) EU loan to Ukraine in response to the disruptions.

In its statement, Slovakia’s Energy Ministry said the supply disruptions “highlighted the vulnerability of the energy infrastructure and the need to diversify supply routes and sources”.

“The new pipeline should improve flexibility of supply and enable more efficient fuel transfers between refineries in both countries,” it said.

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Associated Press writer Karel Janicek in Prague contributed to this report.