Mol on track to divest from Russian oil by the end of 2026 - Erste energy expert
Among other things, the following was discussed at the event, reported on at Erste Market by Tamás Pletser, Erste's energy analyst:
- The Lukoil outage did not cause any particular problems. There was a slight drop in oil from Russia that month, but the same amount of oil was also lost at the Bratislava Refinery for maintenance, so this was not a problem.
Today, the company is back to its previous level of receiving 11 million tonnes of Russian crude oil per year, or 900,000 tonnes per month.
Mol did not buy any oil from Lukoil in July, and will not buy any in August either, instead other Russian producers will supply the domestic company with the necessary quantities. - Divestment from Russian oil: Mol is on track to be ready to supply both of its large internal refineries from offshore by the end of 2026, the analyst says. The company will pay for the $500m needed for the projects out of its own pocket, as there has been no EU or Hungarian state support for the projects.
- The company will pay USD 360 million in special tax to the Hungarian state this year: this includes the adjustment of the special tax on 1 August, Pletser has learned. The Hungarian government has declared that it wants to increase the special taxes, and there are currently two scenarios on the market as to what could change: on the one hand, the mining levy on Hungarian production could increase again from next year if Mol and the government fail to reach an agreement. The other would be an increase in the 1% Hungarian special tax on Hungarian sales, up to the previous level of 2.8%. The expert points out that
the two items could bring up to $500-600 million to the government's coffers.
On the issue of special taxes, Pletser points out that all countries in the region want to return to the previous pre-energy crisis regulation and taxation in 2025. The fact that the domestic government would go against this trend and raise the level of the special tax would, according to Pletser, put the company at a huge competitive disadvantage in an environment where expensive investments are already needed to meet the 2030 climate targets.
Cover photo: Portfolio
