The proposed European Union embargo on Russian oil would cause gas prices to rise by 55% in Hungary, assured the head of Hungarian diplomacy in an interview published Thursday by El País, in order to explain the opposition from Budapest to this measure.
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Read alsoHungary curbs the embargo on Russian oil
"
To replace the pipeline coming from Russia, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the one coming from the Adriatic Sea, which would require 200 million euros and without knowing how long
" it would take, said Peter Szijjarto to the daily.
“
The gas price increase in Hungary would be 55%
,” he continued.
A desire that pipeline imports not be affected by sanctions
He recalled that Hungary was a landlocked country and was entirely dependent on Russian gas and oil.
“
Our refinery is designed for Russian oil.
To refine another, we should invest between 500 and 550 million euros over four years
,” added the minister.
And, according to him, the bill for Hungary would not stop there, because it would also be necessary "to
finance the process of modernizing the entire energy system to avoid the 55% increase in prices, which is unbearable for the people
”.
"
For the moment, we have not presented a plan of this type
," he said again to the address of Brussels.
The “
rational ” solution
according to him, would be that an embargo on Russian oil applies to maritime imports, but that imports by pipeline are not affected.
Read alsoWhy the oil embargo will hurt Russia
Hungary is asking its EU partners for guarantees on its energy supplies as a condition of its agreement to a sixth package of sanctions against Moscow including a halt to Russian oil purchases.
In his interview with El País, Peter Szijjarto also affirmed that some 700,000 refugees from Ukraine had arrived in Hungary since the start of the conflict, around 100,000 still being in this country of ten million inhabitants.
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