March 23, 2026 [Reuters]- Hungary and Slovakia have signed an agreement to build a pipeline linking MOL-owned refineries in the two countries to ​transport oil products such as gasoline and diesel, officials ‌said on Tuesday.

Slovakia’s Economy Ministry said on Tuesday the 127-kilometre (79-mile) pipeline should be finished in the first half of 2027. It will be able ​to transport 1.5 million tons of oil products a year.

Hungarian ​oil and gas group MOL owns refineries in both ⁠countries.

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday in Brussels, ​where the countries signed the deal, that the pipeline “will represent ​further added value for Hungary’s energy supply and diesel supply”.

Hungary and Slovakia are the only European Union countries still importing Russian oil and have fought ​the bloc’s plans to end those imports next year, while ​also looking to diversify crude supplies and routes, such as through a pipeline ‌from ⁠Croatia.

Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline through Ukraine have been suspended since late January after damage that Kyiv says takes time. Hungary and Slovakia accuse Ukraine, which has fought a Russian invasion ​since 2022, of ​dragging its ⁠feet on the resumption of flows for political reasons.

The Slovak ministry said the project connecting MOL’s ​Slovnaft refinery in Bratislava and Danube refinery in ​Szazhalombatta, Hungary, ⁠would improve logistics of fuel supplies between the neighbours and boost supply security.

“The recent disruptions to oil supplies in the region have ⁠shown ​the vulnerability of the energy infrastructure ​and the need to diversify supply routes and sources,” it said.