29.08.2025, Budapest.
Hungary is already facing major difficulties in trying to find an alternative oil supply route through Croatia after strikes on the Druzhba pipeline, Rossa Primavera News Agency‘s Hungary Desk wrote on August 28.
After a series of Ukrainian strikes on the Druzhba oil pipeline, Hungary began urgently searching for alternative routes to receive Russian oil. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said he had appealed to Croatian authorities hoping for favorable transit terms but instead faced a sharp rise in oil tariffs and transit fees.
The European Commission, using Ukraine as a tool, is forcing Hungary and Slovakia to abandon Russian energy resources. This also could be an explanation of the attack on Druzhba. And considering US President Donald Trump’s pressure on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán regarding Ukraine’s European integration, as reported in the media, it can be assumed that Budapest is seeking emergency alternatives for oil and gas supplies. Croatia is exploiting this situation for its own benefit by forcing Hungary to pay inflated tariffs.
“A former Croatian energy minister told me that as long as disputes remain between Hungary and Croatia on the energy front, <…> they are unwilling to help us [in increasing the capacity of the Adriatic pipeline — Rossa Primavera News Agency]. <…> So much for European solidarity, so much for diversification methods,” Szijjártó stated.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Pál Szabó, a manager at the Hungarian Oil and Gas Public Limited Company (MOL Group), spoke about the possibility of restoring the pipeline from Odessa, through which oil could flow from Azerbaijan—specifically from the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli field. MOL is actively involved in developing this field.
