Hungary and Slovakia are rejecting the European Commission’s proposal to use spare capacity on the JANAF Adriatic pipeline in Croatia to supply both countries with oil not sourced in Russia as “Croatia is simply not a reliable country for transit,” Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said.
“It is a politically deeply offensive statement that we did not expect from the representative of the country to which ill-intentioned moves we have long responded with extreme restraint and moderation,” Croatia’s Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said.
Slovakia, whose Hungarian-owned Slovnaft refinery already takes some oil via JANAF, also known as Adria, said on Friday it received a letter from the Croatian government offering to secure supplies.
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Janaf dismissed the allegations in a statement, saying that it has been continuously investing into its transport-storage system.
It said it has tested its transport capacities on the section towards Hungary along with Hunary’s MOL and proved it can transport 1.2 million tonnes of crude oil monthly.
“It is totally untrue that Janaf raised its fees in the past three years,” it said in the statement.
“Janaf is ready both technically and organisationally to supply the central European refineries with enough quantities of oil for the full capacity work. That is why we hope that we would find a satisfying solution for the continuation of long-term partnership through open talks and cooperation,” it said.
But if there is a simple solution to our ptoblem, then how are we going to blame Ukraine for it now?!