In an interview with the Telex portal, Zsolt Hernádi, CEO of Hungarian gas and oil company MOL, took a clear stand against Europe’s policy of completely decoupling from Russian energy sources. He warned of massive supply shortages and economic damage for Central and Eastern Europe.
While the European Union is increasing pressure on member states to end their dependence on Moscow, the CEO of the MOL Group, Zsolt Hernádi, is sounding the alarm. For him, the current sanctions policy is less a question of morality and more a threat to Hungary’s national sovereignty and economic stability.
Energy sovereignty does not mean that we disconnect ourselves from something, because that would be coercion,”
said the MOL CEO. For him, true diversification means keeping Russian energy as one of several options rather than categorically excluding it. The CEO criticized that Western countries with access to the sea have it easy, while landlocked countries such as Hungary are technologically and infrastructurally tied to the existing pipeline network.
In Zsolt Hernádi’s view, an immediate halt to Russian supplies would have devastating consequences for the region. He estimates that Russian oil (REBCO) is currently about 15 to 17 percent cheaper than North Sea Brent. Its elimination would drive inflation and strain the national budget.
Since refineries in the region are calibrated precisely to the chemical composition of Russian oil, a switch would mean technological efficiency losses of around 10 percent,
he explained.
The MOL CEO recalled the 2009 gas crisis and warned that alternative routes such as the Croatian Adriatic pipeline (Janaf) have yet to prove their full capacity of 15 million tons per year.
Oil flare at the MOL Danube refinery in Százhalombatta (Photo: Róbert Hegedüs/MTI)
Zsolt Hernádi responded sharply to criticism from other EU countries regarding Hungary’s unique approach. He spoke of “double standards” and cynically remarked:
I love this European solidarity – according to the motto: The main thing is that the neighbor’s cow dies too.
He pointed out that large European energy traders would continue to earn handsomely from processed Russian products, while Hungary was being asked to make moral sacrifices that could jeopardize the daily lives of its citizens. “What do I say to a Hungarian mother who can no longer pay her heating bill because we have cut ourselves off from the cheapest source for political reasons?” he asked.
Although MOL is investing in alternative capacities – such as the connection between Hungary and Slovakia or tests on the Adriatic pipeline – Zsolt Hernádi warns against recklessly abandoning functioning systems. “Who wants to depend on a single Croatian pipeline and sea suppliers?” he asks.
The goal must be redundancy, not replacing one dependency with another,
he added.
For the MOL boss, Russian energy supplies remain the backbone of Hungary’s security of supply. He described politically motivated decoupling plans as an act of self-destruction.
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Via telex.hu; Featured image: MTI/Lakatos Péter
The post MOL CEO Warns Against Decoupling from Russian Oil appeared first on Hungary Today.
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