Szijjarto: Serbia-Hungary oil pipeline to supply Pancevo refinery from 2028

BELGRADE - Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday in Belgrade works to build a new Serbia-Hungary oil pipeline could begin at the end of this year or early next year and be fully completed in 2028, and noted that the pipeline would fully meet the annual oil supply needs of Serbia's Pancevo oil refinery.

"Hungary has already completed the feasibility study and (its oil company) MOL has already presented that study to the governments of the two countries. We have accepted it and the Serbian government has accepted a spatial plan that is necessary to build the oil pipeline," Szijjarto told reporters after a meeting with Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic.

He added that significant steps had been made in the past few weeks in preparation for the construction of the pipeline.

"We hope physical works could begin at the end of the year or the beginning of next year. By 2028, we could have a complete and functional oil pipeline between the two countries," Szijjarto said, noting that the construction of a 190 km Hungarian stretch of the pipeline would cost around 130 bln forints.

"It is a very serious investment that is important for the entire region. The capacity of that oil pipeline will be between 4 and 5 mln t a year and, with that capacity, we will be capable of supplying the Pancevo refinery, which is crucial when it comes to Serbia's energy security," Szijjarto said.

That means Serbia will be able to get all its oil supplies from Hungary, he said.

"Today, Hungary can cover its entire annual gas needs from Serbia and, in the same way, for Serbia, the new oil pipeline will mean that all its required annual capacities will be completely covered by the oil pipeline that we will build together. That gives us a strategic position that will ensure much higher energy security to both countries," he also said.