Hungary has dramatically increased its dependence on Russian crude since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago, despite efforts by the EU to limit imports of Russian fossil fuels.
A new report from the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD)A European public policy institute says the share of Russian crude in Hungary’s oil imports was expected to be 93% in 2025, up from 61% in 2021. The report is shared exclusively with DW.
It also points to Budapest’s deep dependence on Russian gas and nuclear power.
The report describes Hungary as “the most significant remaining bastion of Russian energy dependence” in Europe, saying that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government has deliberately deepened its dependence despite EU efforts to move away from Russian fossil fuels.
“This analysis confirms that Hungary’s dependence on Russian oil, gas and nuclear fuel is a structurally sound system sustained by legal exemptions, long-term contracts, commercial incentives, and politically embedded business networks.”
The report also draws attention to Hungary’s continued high imports of Russian gas, saying that loopholes in the EU’s Russian gas phaseout plan mean the fuel will still be imported into the bloc after the 2027 deadline.
“The current design of the legal Russian gas phaseout regime has a number of structural flaws that risk increasing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and reducing the effectiveness of the comprehensive sanctions architecture,” Martin Vladimirov, director of the energy and climate program at CSD and one of the report’s authors, told DW.
The Hungarian government did not respond to DW’s request for comment on the report’s findings.
Taking advantage of EU discounts
Hungary and Slovakia have benefited from an exemption from the EU’s general ban on Russian oil imports, with both countries continuing to import large quantities since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The US has also exempted Hungary from its sanctions on Russian energy. Last November, US President Donald Trump said Hungary could continue importing Russian oil and gas for a year. “It’s very hard for him [Orban] To get oil and gas from other areas,” Trump said at the time.
The EU has already said it plans to end the exemption in preparation for a complete phaseout of Russian oil and gas, as set out in its REPowerEU roadmap. However, it has not yet published precise plans on how it will do so.
The EU wants to end Russian LNG imports into the bloc by December 31, 2026, and pipeline gas imports by September 30, 2027. It also says it is committed to phasing out all remaining oil imports from Russia by the end of 2027.
Both Hungary and Slovakia are opposed to ending the exemption and want to continue importing Russian fossil fuels. Last week. Hungary used its veto to block a €90 billion ($104 billion) EU loan to Ukraine, with Orbán saying Hungary could not support the proposal unless oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline resumed.
The pipeline has been pumping Russian oil to Europe for decades but has not been operational since late January. Ukraine has blamed Russia for damaging the pipeline but Hungary and Slovakia have both expressed skepticism over the claims.
Hungary’s state oil company benefits from Russian oil
Hungary’s increased Russian oil imports take advantage of rebates and the deeply discounted price of Russian oil on global markets, the CSD report said.
It also said Hungarian state oil monopoly MOL has benefited economically from continued access to discounted Russian crude, with earnings rising 15% to about €1.3 billion in 2025.
It says that despite this increased revenue, the benefits have not been passed on to consumers in Hungary or neighboring Slovakia. The report’s findings said pre-tax fuel prices in Hungary and Slovakia are higher than in Czechia. For example, in 2025, Hungary’s average weekly pre-tax fuel prices were 18% higher for gasoline and 10% higher for diesel than in Czechia.
Isaac Levy, an analyst at the Helsinki-based Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air and one of the report’s authors, says Hungary’s increasing dependence on subsidized Russian crude is beneficial for oil giant MOL, but not for the average Hungarian or Slovakian citizen.
“The claim that Hungary and Slovakia cannot diversify away from Russian oil is not supported by evidence and the EU should withdraw them while immediately ending the supplies that finance the Kremlin war chest,” he told DW.
a major election topic
The news of Hungary’s increasing dependence on Russian fossil fuels comes just weeks before Hungary’s parliamentary elections on April 12. Opinion polls show that Péter Magyar’s pro-EU Tisza party, formed in 2020, has a chance of defeating Orbán’s long-serving Fidesz party.
The issue of Russian energy imports has been a major topic in the election campaign. Magyar has said he will not immediately end Russian energy imports due to concerns about alternatives, but will set a target date of 2035.
Orban, meanwhile, has repeatedly defended Moscow and Hungary’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels.
The CSD report also raises several questions about the EU’s oil and gas phaseout plan.
“Despite a political commitment to eliminate Russian gas imports, the EU’s current approach relies heavily on sequential implementation timelines, national discretion and complex origin verification mechanisms,” said report author Vladimirov.
It said Hungary’s long-term contract with Russian state gas company Gazprom, as well as its reliance on the TurkStream pipeline, means it has become overly dependent on Russian gas and has shown little appetite to diversify.
It also noted that loopholes in the EU’s gas phaseout plan would allow Russian gas to continue entering European markets via Turkey, Azerbaijan and the Western Balkans, estimating that the EU will import an estimated €13.4 billion of Russian gas before the September 2027 deadline it has set for ending imports.
Edited by: Srinivas Majumdaru