Serbia eyes interconnector to bring Russian oil from Hungary

Serbia would be interested in building an interconnector with neighbouring Hungary because its northern neighbour gets its oil from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline, which is not under Western sanctions, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on Wednesday.

Read also: EU sanctions fallout: Serbia to stop receiving Russian oil via Adriatic pipeline

He said Serbia had no problem building interconnectors with Croatia and Romania, “because there will be gas from the Black Sea in the future” but it must also consider building an interconnector with Hungary.

“If we had built a pipeline towards Hungary, we would already be able to bring Russian crude from the Druzhba pipeline because there are no sanctions for pipelines, but there are for tankers,”  Vučić was quoted as saying by EURACTIV’s Croatian partner Jutarnji List.

Serbia was getting most of its oil from Croatia via the Yugoslav-era Janaf pipeline, which connects the deep-sea port of Omišalj in Croatia’s northern Adriatic, with Hungary and Serbia.

That option was cancelled with the latest package of EU sanctions because Russian crude had been transported to Croatia in tankers.

“Oil does not reach Omisalj on foot, it was tankers, and that is subject to sanctions,” Vučić said.

The move would not be the first time Hungary showed a willingness to help Serbia regarding energy security.

Last month, Budapest said Serbia could use Hungary’s facilities to store 500 million cubic metres of gas to secure a steady supply during winter.