Hungary and neighboring countries explore acquiring Russian oil assets like Lukoil amid geopolitical shifts.
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Following Viktor Orbán’s visit to Moscow, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Economic Cooperation, conducted a series of visits to Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia. Gergely Gulyás confirmed that MOL is negotiating the acquisition of NIS, a Serbian oil company majority-owned by Russia. Bloomberg reported that during Orbán’s meeting with Vladimir Putin, discussions included Hungary acquiring Russian-owned oil companies in Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria, along with Russian support for such acquisitions. Meanwhile, both Bulgarian and Romanian governments developed plans to acquire Lukoil, an oil company operating in their countries. Sofia planned to use the Bulgarian Development Bank, backed by a 2 billion euro state guarantee, to purchase Lukoil. The Bulgarian parliament passed legislation on November 7th placing the local subsidiary of Lukoil under government control for potential sale. Szijjártó visited Sofia later, and although official statements were silent, reports suggested discussions about Hungary acquiring Lukoil with the Romanian President. On November 25th, Bulgaria published a governmental plan to fund the acquisition of Lukoil from its budget. On the same day, Szijjártó was in Bucharest, where he stated that Moscow is a reliable partner for Hungary, while declining specific questions about Hungarian companies purchasing Lukoil’s Romanian network. The next day, November 25th, the Romanian government announced plans to implement an “emergency mechanism,” effectively bringing sanctioned companies like Lukoil under control, with energy minister Bogdan Ivan and President Nicusor Dan stating that the state might take over Lukoil shares to prevent it from falling into a Russian-backed shell company used to circumvent sanctions.
