- JANAF responded to the claims of MOL and Slovnaft about changing the agreement.
- MOL and Slovnaft turned to the European Commission with concerns about supplies.
- JANAF claims that the transportation of oil takes place according to the signed agreements.
- Croatia is ready for proceedings before the European Commission.
The JANAF company, as the operator of the Croatian Adria pipeline, responded on Thursday to the claims of the MOL and Slovnaft companies about unilateral changes to their agreement. TASR writes about it according to a report from the Hina agency. MOL and Slovnaft have approached the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition and expressed concern that JANAF’s practices are increasing security of supply risks related to the Croatian part of the Adria pipeline.
“Oil transportation is carried out in accordance with the transportation schedule, the terms of the concluded agreement, the technical conditions of access to the transportation capacities of JANAF and standard business practice,” JANAF said in a statement.
“We emphasize that the actual utilization by MOL Group is significantly lower than the contractual quantities and standard business practice for the transportation of crude oil by pipelines, and we expect MOL Group to increase the operational utilization of the pipeline capacities in accordance with the agreement,” supplied by JANAF.
In a letter to the European Commission, MOL and Slovnaft said that the operator of the Adria pipeline will only accept oil that has already been purchased and is scheduled for delivery if MOL and Slovnaft agree to purchase additional volume and use it in the JANAF system as displacement oil.
At the end of October, Slovnaft reported the seizure of 90,000 tons of oil by the Croatian company, but JANAF rejected the allegations of breach of contract. The request of the operator of the Adria oil pipeline surprised MOL, as it was not previously an issue in its cooperation with JANAF and is not mentioned in the agreement. In addition, it may be against the terms of the signed agreement, MOL said in a statement.
Croatia will very willingly participate in the proceedings before the Commission and other relevant European bodies, as all arguments regarding the appeal of MOL and Slovnaft are on its sideCroatian Minister of Economy Ante Šušnjar said on Thursday.
