Naftogaz signs deal with Hungary's MOL to build fuel storage near Ukrainian border
Ukraine's Naftogaz Group signed a memorandum with Hungarian oil and gas company MOL to build petroleum-product storage facilities in Hungary near the Ukrainian-Hungarian border. The deal, announced at the Carpathian Eight (C8) summit, is intended to hold part of Ukraine's strategic fuel reserves outside the range of Russian strikes.
Key points
- Naftogaz and Hungary's MOL signed a memorandum on building petroleum-product storage facilities in Hungary near the Ukrainian-Hungarian border.
- The deal was concluded at the Carpathian Economic Forum within the C8 summit on 18 September.
- Acting Naftogaz board chair Serhiy Fedorenko announced the signing on 20 September.
- The facilities are designed to hold part of Ukraine's strategic fuel reserves outside the range of Russian strikes on Ukrainian fuel infrastructure.
- The C8 format, initiated by President Volodymyr Zelensky, brings together Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Serbia.
- C8 participants presented a joint investment portfolio of 95 projects worth roughly 40 billion euros at the 18 September forum.
- Russia has systematically struck Ukrainian fuel infrastructure since the full-scale invasion, with more than 300 filling stations damaged or destroyed over the past half-year.
Why it matters
The memorandum creates new cross-border fuel storage on Hungarian soil intended to protect Ukrainian strategic reserves from Russian strikes that have hit Ukrainian refineries, depots, and filling stations. It is the most concrete energy-security deliverable to emerge from the C8 format Zelensky proposed, and it signals a working Ukraine-Hungary energy partnership even though Hungary's new government under Péter Magyar has continued buying some Russian energy.
What happened
Ukraine's Naftogaz Group signed a memorandum with Hungary's MOL to build petroleum-product storage facilities in Hungary near the Ukrainian-Hungarian border. The deal was concluded at the Carpathian Economic Forum held as part of the Carpathian Eight (C8) summit on 18 September, and acting Naftogaz board chair Serhiy Fedorenko announced the signing on 20 September. According to Fedorenko, the project is designed to hold part of Ukraine's strategic fuel reserves outside the range of Russian strikes and to increase the reliability of fuel supply for Ukrainian consumers, while promoting cross-border energy infrastructure between Ukraine and Hungary. The C8 summit brought together leaders from Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Serbia.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian sources center Naftogaz and Serhiy Fedorenko as the named spokesperson for the deal. They frame the project as a direct response to Russian attacks on Ukrainian fuel infrastructure, and emphasize both the strategic-reserve benefits for Ukraine and the longer-term development of cross-border energy infrastructure with Hungary.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on the scope of projects announced at the Carpathian Economic Forum. Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky is cited as saying around 50 oil-and-gas, energy, infrastructure, and cultural projects totaling over 1 billion euros were formed, while other accounts describe a separate joint C8 investment portfolio of 95 projects worth approximately 40 billion euros presented during the same forum.
Background
The C8 format was initiated by President Volodymyr Zelensky and groups Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Serbia; at its 18 September forum it presented a joint portfolio of 95 projects worth roughly 40 billion euros. Russia has systematically struck Ukrainian fuel infrastructure since the full-scale invasion, and reporting cited in the inputs says more than 300 filling stations were damaged or destroyed over the half-year covered, with strikes spreading beyond frontline oblasts. Ukrainian law allows part of the strategic fuel reserve to be held abroad, but the mechanism has previously run into problems with reservoir availability, logistics, and storage rules. Since May, Hungary has had a new government under Péter Magyar; Hungary's economy-and-energy minister has said the country can meet its gas needs without Russian supplies until October 2027 while still purchasing some Russian energy.