Fico: "Sanctions work both ways"

“Any sanctions in this economic world work against the one who created them,” Robert Fico criticized Ukrainian sanctions against Lukoil and said that fuel supplies to Ukraine will suffer.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was outraged by Ukraine's blocking of Russian oil supplies to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline. He held a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal on this matter. This was reported by Slovak media on Saturday evening, July 20, in particular TASRciting the country's government. Fico criticized Ukraine's inclusion of the Russian company Lukoil in the sanctions list, since its oil was also used by the Slovnaft refinery, part of the Hungarian MOL group.

The politician considers these sanctions “senseless” because, in his opinion, they harm not the Russian Federation, but mainly certain countries EU. Ukraine is not such a powerful country to allow itself sanctions against anyone. And the Ukrainian authorities' attempts to contribute to sanctions against the Russian Federation are having the opposite effect. Because these sanctions are precisely what harm some EU countries.

“Slovakia does not intend to be a hostage to Ukrainian-Russian relations, and the decision of the Ukrainian president means that the Slovnaft refinery in Slovakia, which is part of the Hungarian MOL group, will receive 40% less oil than it needs for processing. This will not only affect the Slovak market, but may also lead to the cessation of supplies of Slovnaft-produced oil to Ukraine, which accounts for almost a tenth of all Ukrainian consumption.”– said the Slovak Prime Minister.

It is also reported that the head of the Slovak government discussed the issue with the relevant cabinet members, as well as with MOL officials, over several days.

Budapest and Bratislava have initiated consultations with the European Commission ahead of legal proceedings against Kyiv over Ukraine's halting of Russian oil transit to Hungary and Slovakia. The Hungarian authorities have also hinted that they may stop exporting electricity to Ukraine due to the transit halt. This was announced by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in Brussels, Hungarian media reported.

“I spoke with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister. According to him, they did not ban the transit of oil, but this is not true. The European Commission has three days to fulfill our request, after which we will take this case to court,” – said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to him, Hungary and Slovakia are working on legal solutions to the problem of stopping oil transit through Ukraine in case it cannot be quickly lifted.

“Budapest considers Kyiv's decision to stop oil transit hostile, especially given Ukraine's import of electricity from Hungary,” – Szijjarto noted. He added that if it is not possible to convince Kyiv to resume oil transit, Europe will have the right not to implement the points of the association agreement with the EU. “This step by Ukraine violates the clause of the agreement between Ukraine and the EU on association, which states that Ukraine cannot disrupt energy supplies to EU countries through its territory,” – he said.

It is worth noting, What bOmost of the electricity Ukraine imports from these two countries. And if the conflict develops, electricity supplies to Ukraine may be suspended. And this, given the current catastrophic situation with electricity in Ukraine, will be another nail in the coffin of the Ukrainian economy.

Source link