JANAF responds to Hungarian accusations of profiteering

Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijjarto continues to accuse Croatia of profiteering off his country's reliance on crude oil deliveries via Croatia's Adriatic pipeline by imposing a so-called "war surcharge". 

Szijjarto originally made the claims this past Thursday while on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, when he said that Croatia was taking advantage of the war in Ukraine by boosting transit costs.

Hungary continues to depend mainly on cheap Russian oil to fuel their energy needs.

Despite a strong reaction from the Croatian government on Friday, Szijjarto doubled down on the claims via social media that he was unwilling to allow the Hungarian people's energy bills to increase because of Croatia's greed for profit, and that JANAF - the company that manages the pipeline - was incapable of fulfilling his country's demand for crude oil deliveries.

JANAF responded on Saturday by saying that they were "technically ready, reliable and fully capable of covering the annual crude oil needs, which has been confirmed by recent testing".

"When it comes to transportation costs, JANAF defines prices in accordance with applicable laws and internal regulations and applies a clearly defined tariff calculation methodology that is familiar to the Hungarian side and is valid for all JANAF partners, namely leading global traders and regional vertically integrated oil companies. The tariff calculation methodology has been additionally verified by international consultants who study the methodologies of numerous world oil pipelines," said JANAF in Saturday's press release.

"If anyone is profiting from the current situation, it is certainly not Croatia, but rather Hungary, which continuously imports Russian oil, while Croatia is systematically strengthening the diversification of supply and energy sources," they continued.

Sandra Benčić from the far-left Možemo party, said the hostility displayed by Hungary was simply a consequence of Andrej Plenković's milquetoast stance towards Hungarian President Viktor Orban who has been provoking Croatia for years through poor relations between INA and MOL and Orban's continuous use of maps displaying a Greater Hungary which includes Croatian territory.