"If the European Union... would like to punish Russia on the oil side, then introduce an embargo on maritime deliveries of oil, because that represents by far the biggest part of Russian oil deliveries to Europe, because pipeline deliveries are in a minority, and if you give an exemption to pipeline deliveries, then our economies can continue to operate, and then the European Union would reach its goal as well," Szijjarto told Fox News.
The top diplomat added that the Hungarian economy does not have alternatives to Russian oil.
"If we are cut off from Russian oil, physically it's impossible to buy enough oil from any other sources in order to operate our country, our economy. So, our economy will be killed without Russian gas, not to speak about the fact that in order to technologically transform the refinery of ours in order to be able to refine other types of gas and oil than Russian, then we will need another 550-million-Euro investment," Szijjarto said.
According to the foreign minister, the total amount of necessary investments to solve the problem and redevelop the refinery system could be about 1 billion euros.
Hungary Plans to Speed Up Paks NPP II Construction With Rosatom's Help
On Wednesday, Szijjarto said that Hungary is interested in accelerating the construction of the new units at the Paks nuclear power plant (NPP) to bring them into operation by 2030, as Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom expressed its readiness to implement the project.
"Due to the energy crisis, it is necessary to speed up the development of the Paks NPP … The European Union made it clear that the use of atomic energy for civilian purposes is exempt from sanctions, and we would like to continue expansion of the Paks," Szijjarto told the parliament.
The official also said that he had already met with the Rosatom leadership in Istanbul and received assurances of their readiness to implement the project.
"In other words, our purpose is to launch the operation of new units by 2030 with accelerating investment," he added.
Paks, Hungary's only NPP, is located 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Budapest and about 5 kilometers from the city of Paks. At present, built according to Soviet design, Paks NPP operates four power units with VVER-440 reactors and generates about half of the country's electricity.
In 2014, Russia and Hungary signed an inter-governmental agreement on the Paks II project to expand the plant by constructing two new VVER-1200 reactors, with Moscow granting about 10 billion euros ($10.9 billion) in loans to finance over 80% of the project. Preparation of the construction site began in 2019. The principal contractor is Rosatom's Engineering Division – JSC Atomproekt.