Hungarians potentially buying out sanctioned Russian oil companies also discussed by Orbán and Putin

According to the Russian news agency Interfax, the possibility of a Hungarian buyout of the foreign interests of Russian oil companies affected by US sanctions was also discussed at Friday's summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The news agency reports that Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak also confirmed this in a television interview: "This topic exists, and it was discussed." He added:

“Our Hungarian partners are currently working on this [transaction]. Much depends on the commercial negotiations. This work must be done quietly and without much publicity.”

Interfax recalls that on November 27, Reuters reported that the Hungarian Mol could be looking at acquiring a stake in Serbia's NIS, which is also affected by the sanctions. They also mentioned that Lukoil also needs to find buyers for its foreign assets, including its Romanian and Bulgarian petrol station networks and refineries.

On Friday evening, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, reported on the Moscow negotiations in a video, but made no mention of the potential buyout of Russian oil companies' European assets. According to the Hungarian Minister, "we got what we came for": that is, we succeeded in guaranteeing "the security of Hungary's energy supply," he said, among other things. He added that "Russia is fulfilling its contractual obligations with regard to both natural gas and crude oil." Szijjártó also mentioned the Paks expansion, the potential peace summit in Budapest, and explained why there was yet another high-ranking Hungarian delegation in Moscow.

As previously reported, Szijjártó did not mention whether Hungarian companies were possibly interested in buying out Russian assets affected by the American sanctions: the Balkan network of Lukoil and the largely Russian-owned NIS oil refinery in Serbia, which is subject to US sanctions due to its Russian ownership, leaving its supply of crude oil uncertain.

Orbán was in Subotica, Serbia on Thursday for talks with the Serbian President, where he confirmed that he would be flying to Moscow on Friday. While standing next to Aleksandar Vučić at the press conference in Serbia, he said that "if the Serbs should decide so," "Hungary is ready" to play a role in the operation of the Pančevo refinery.