Bloomberg: EU gives Bulgaria postponement of Russian oil refusal, compromise on Hungary – War in Ukraine
Bulgaria would receive a postponement until June or December 2024 to ban the import of Russian oil according to the latest version of the draft proposal in the union for sanctions imposed on Russia because of the war in Ukraine.
This write “Bloomberg”, citing a source familiar with the new proposal.
The union is also proposing to lift restrictions on oil imports through the Druzhba pipeline and to ban maritime oil supplies from Russia.
This could satisfy Un’s objections and help reach an agreement on the sixth package of sanctions with Russia, the agency said, hours before the Council of Deputies on the issues and the days before the key meeting of European leaders.
According to this not yet accepted proposal, the EU will be told from the import of Russian oil until the beginning of the first year. The Czech Republic received an exception until June 2024, Slovakia – until the end of the same year.
Hungary indicates that sanctions will be imposed on the import of Russian oil, arguing that the available proposals do not guarantee energy security. For Prime Minister Victor Orban’s draft sanctions, he even used the word “atomic bomb” for a week. Brussels has been negotiating with Budapest for weeks (Orbán was also visited in person by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen), but to no avail.
However, the European Commission sent a revised proposal to national governments yesterday, according to the agency’s sources. It talks about the shutdown for Druzhba oil, as well as the suspension of the supply of oil at sea after six months, and oil products after eight months. It is also proposed to limit the re-export of Russian oil delivered through the pipeline to third countries.
For Hungary, Druzhba is a major source of oil. The European Union hopes that this will give Budapest more time to find a technical solution that meets its energy needs. Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Siarto lost 15 to 18 billion rubles in losses from the abandonment of Russian oil in Hungary. euros.
With this step, the commission hopes to solve the problems of other landlocked countries.