Hungary seeks way to circumvent US sanctions on Russian oil companies - Orbán
Photo: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (Getty Images)
Hungary is working on ways to bypass US sanctions on the Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft, states Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, according to Reuters.
According to Orbán, he has already discussed this issue with representatives of the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL.
"We are working on how to circumvent this sanction," he said.
As Reuters reports, MOL’s refineries in Hungary and Slovakia, with a combined capacity of processing 14.2 million tons of crude oil per year, depend on Russian crude transported via the Druzhba pipeline.
At the same time, MOL’s Slovak subsidiary Slovnaft stated that it is analyzing the potential impact of the US sanctions, which are set to take effect later in November, on its operations.
US sanctions on Russia
Recently, US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on key Russian oil companies in an effort to pressure Moscow into agreeing to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Following the sanctions, Brent crude futures rose by 5%.
The sanctions targeting energy giants Rosneft and Lukoil have raised concerns in China’s oil industry.
In particular, Beijing stated that such restrictions have no basis in international law and were not approved by the UN Security Council.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that the new US sanctions "will not significantly affect Russia’s economic well-being," while the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, called Trump "an enemy of Russia" and described the decision as an act of war.
Meanwhile, the White House said that the impact of US sanctions on Russia will become clear in six months.
