EK: JANAF has enough capacity to supply Hungary and Slovakia

“Hungary and Slovakia have enough oil reserves and at this stage there is no immediate threat to the security of their supply,” said European Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen on Wednesday, stressing that there is an alternative supply route that the two countries can use: the Adriatic pipeline (JANAF) from Croatia.

Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said that the coordination group for oil met on Wednesday morning where they discussed security of supply, possible short-term risks, among other things, due to damage to the Druzhba oil pipeline.

At the meeting, Hungary and Slovakia confirmed that they have started using oil stocks, and Croatia said that non-Russian oil is already being transported through JANAF to Hungary and Slovakia, and that additional deliveries of non-Russian oil contracted by the MOL group are also entering the Croatian oil terminal, ensuring security of supply in Hungary and Slovakia.

Spokeswoman Itkonen said that the issue was discussed in Kiev on Tuesday by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

“President von der Leyen thanked Prime Minister Plenković for his help in securing and increasing oil transport to Hungary and Slovakia via the Adriatic oil pipeline and asked for the acceleration of repairs to the Druzhba oil pipeline,” Itkonen said.

Asked by a Hungarian journalist whether it was true that Croatia did not want to transport Russian oil, Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said that what matters is that there is oil, not its origin.

“In this case, if there is oil, its origin should have no impact on citizens in terms of energy security. And in fact, this can gradually move us away from supplies from Russia, which is the ultimate goal,” said Pinho.

The Commission also publicly confirmed for the first time that JANAF has sufficient capacity to supply Hungary and Slovakia.

“It remains the main alternative oil pipeline for Hungary and Slovakia to cover their needs, and the pipeline has sufficient capacity to increase the volume to fully cover Hungarian and Slovak needs,” Itkonen said.

When asked about the differences in the price of Russian and non-Russian oil, Itkonen said that she does not comment on oil prices and that it is a matter of the market.

Eight tankers with non-Russian oil for MOL Group in Omišalj

JANAF's Omišalj Terminal is currently unloading crude oil cargo for the needs of MOL Group partners, and a total of seven more tankers are due to arrive by the beginning of April for the same user of JANAF's oil pipeline system, the state-owned transport company reported on Wednesday.

All tankers transport exclusively oil of non-Russian origin, it noted in its statement.

JANAF has once again confirmed to its partners and key stakeholders that it represents a guarantor of energy supply security in this part of Europe. "As a strategic energy hub of the European Union and the only secure route for the supply of crude oil to Central Europe, JANAF is ready to meet all the annual needs of refineries in Slovakia and Hungary. Through continuous investments in pipelines, facilities and other infrastructure, as well as in business development, we maintain quality of service and reliability at the highest level for all our partners," said JANAF in a statement.

Source: HRT