Robert Fico warned that the Slovnaft refinery will stop supplying diesel to Ukraine if Kiev continues to block shipments of oil from Russia to Slovakia.
Two weeks ago, Kiev decided to suspend the transfer of crude oil from Russia’s Lukoil to Slovakia via Ukraine. Specifically, Kiev placed the Russian company Lukoil on the sanctions list. The problem is that the Slovnaft refinery in Bratislava received oil from it.
Fico warned Ukraine
Robert Fico and Foreign Minister Jaraj Blanar met with Ukrainian Ambassador to Bratislava Myroslaw Kastrana. Politicians are trying to reach an agreement on the oil blockade for Slovakia.
– I reiterated that we stand by the steps and statements we have taken and that continuing to maintain these senseless sanctions will only harm Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary, while Russia will remain virtually untouched, Fico explained.
The Slovak prime minister said that “even the issue of Ukrainian transit of Russian oil cannot change the attitude of the Slovak government to the war in Ukraine.” – Military operations must end with an immediate ceasefire, and demanding that Russia be brought to its knees means even greater profits for arms manufacturers – Fico reiterated his previously stated position.
– The government I lead rejects the policy of a new Iron Curtain between Russia and the European Union. (…) If the European Union wants to free itself from the influence of the United States, it will have to consider forms of cooperation with the Russian Federation, including strategic raw materials, he argued.
Fico: Slovakia does not intend to be a hostage of Russia-Ukraine relations
Earlier, Fico stressed that Slovakia does not intend to be a hostage of Ukrainian-Russian relations. Fico spoke by phone with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal about the partial blocking of Lukoil supplies.
In this regard, Prime Minister Fico pointed out that the Ukrainian sanctions against the Russian company are “senseless” and cause more harm to some European Union countries than to Russia.
Slovakia’s prime minister warned Kiev that restricting shipments for the Slovnaft refinery could result in the suspension of supplies of diesel fuel produced for Kiev, which, according to Slovak government sources, amounts to one-tenth of Ukraine’s entire fuel consumption.
Robert Fico has also been in contact with several members of the Slovak cabinet and with representatives of the Hungarian petrochemical group MOL, to which the Slovak refinery belongs, on this issue.
They also block the oil supply to Hungary
The suspension of Lukoil deliveries via Ukraine to Hungary was previously confirmed by the government in Budapest.
As a rule, the European Union has imposed an embargo on crude oil from the Russian Federation. However, let us not forget that Slovakia, as well as Hungary and the Czech Republic, are excluded from the EU embargo on Russian crude oil. Two-thirds of the raw material processed by the Bratislava Slovnaft refinery, owned by the Hungarian concern MOL, comes from this country.
Source: Do Rzeczy
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
