Slovakia may stop supplying diesel fuel to Ukraine if Kyiv continues to block the transit of Russian oil to Slovakia.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico told his Ukrainian colleague Denys Shmygal about this in a telephone conversation, reports Bloomberg.
According to him, Slovakia provides 10% of all diesel fuel imports to Ukraine.
However, neither Slovakia nor Hungary, which also complains about blocking the transit of Russian oil, is not threatened by a shortage, as alternative routes are operating, including through Croatia. Instead, this may lead to an increase in prices at gas stations, according to Tamas Pletzer, an energy analyst at Erste Group in Budapest.
According to him, this could jeopardize the income to the Hungarian budget from the special tax on profits from Russian oil, which is paid by the Hungarian company Mol Nyrt. It was raised earlier this month to plug fiscal holes.
- Russiaʼs Lukoil has stopped supplying oil to Hungary and Slovakia due to Kievʼs sanctions against the company, which effectively prohibit it from using the territory of Ukraine for transit. Although both countries are exempt from the application of EU sanctions on the transportation of oil from the Russian Federation, the new Ukrainian sanctions nullified their immunity from restrictions.
- Because of this , the countries even initiated the consultation procedure of the arbitration court with the European Commission. Peter Sijarto said that this is "an unacceptable step on the part of Ukraine, which wants to become a member of the EU", saying that it endangers the supply of crude oil to two EU countries. And he added that this allegedly violates the Association Agreement with the EU.