Hungarian Prime Minister meets Putin to negotiate takeover of Russian-sanctioned oil refineries

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Moscow on Friday to meet President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, aiming to strike a deal on Russian oil and gas facilities blocked by sanctions.

Their closed-door meeting focused on how Hungary could take over refineries across Eastern Europe that were forced to halt operations after the U.S. and its allies sanctioned them due to Russian ownership.

According to Interfax, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the discussion about Hungary potentially buying up these Russian-linked assets had to be kept private for now.

“We have extensive cooperation in the energy sector, which is very good,” Putin told Orban at the start of the meeting. “And there are issues and problems here that require our discussion.”

Orban offers to take over sanctioned refineries in Serbia and beyond

Viktor’s trip came just one day after he met Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade. During that visit, Viktor said Hungary would be “happy” to buy a piece of NIS, Serbia’s only refinery, which is owned by Gazprom.

That refinery was shut down after U.S. sanctions hit it over its Russian links, leaving Serbia scrambling for fuel. Hungary, meanwhile, avoided such restrictions after Viktor met with Donald Trump on November 7. Trump granted Hungary a sanctions waiver, giving it room to maneuver.

Now Viktor is pushing to grab energy infrastructure that others are forced to abandon. The assets on his radar include Lukoil PJSC’s refineries in Bulgaria and Romania and NIS in Serbia. With his exemption in hand, Orban is moving fast.

At the same time, Washington is pushing for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, which has been at war for nearly four years. The U.S. plan, 28 points long, was drawn up with Russian input.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to land in Moscow next week for talks.

EU criticism grows as Orban doubles down on Putin ties

Orban’s so-called peace missions haven’t gone down well in Brussels. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday: “He’s traveling without a European mandate, and without consulting us. But that’s nothing new.”

Orban’s government has been trying to position Hungary as a neutral ground for peace talks. After the Kremlin meeting, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Viktor again offered to host future negotiations in Budapest.

The Kremlin didn’t say yes, but it did agree to keep energy flowing. Putin promised that Russia would continue supplying Hungary with natural gas and oil, and that it would move ahead with expanding the Paks nuclear plant, Hungary’s only one, which is being built with Russian backing.

Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyas added that MOL Nyrt, Hungary’s energy company, is currently talking to Serbia about buying Gazprom’s stake in NIS and restarting fuel production.

A potential outcome of Viktor’s visit could be “the Russian president’s approval for the Hungarian energy company MOL to acquire a majority stake in the Serbian energy company NIS,” said Daniel Hegedus, director for Central Europe at the German Marshall Fund.

Vucic has not been so lucky. The Serbian president is still trying to get a sanctions waiver from the U.S., but hasn’t managed to land one. He’s cautious about seizing NIS because he doesn’t want to damage ties with Putin. “It’s a foreign-policy balancing act,” Vucic has admitted.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria seized control of Lukoil’s Neftohim refinery and its 220 gas stations earlier this month to keep its fuel supply running. Romania, which hosts another Lukoil facility and over 300 gas stations, is drafting laws to do the same if needed.

In Serbia, Russia is also talking to UAE-based companies about selling Gazprom’s share in NIS.

And for the Bulgarian Lukoil refinery, a consortium of SOCAR (Azerbaijan’s state energy firm) and Cengiz Holding (a Turkish private company) had been the favored buyers, until U.S. sanctions put those plans on ice. MOL has also submitted a bid.

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