Latest Articles about Hungary
HUNGARY’S MOL STAYS WITH NABUCCO, BUT PRIME MINISTER WEIGHS SOUTH STREAM ALSO
Gazprom-controlled Kommersant claimed on December 13 that Hungary's MOL energy company has invited Gazprom to join the New Europe Transmission System (NETS), a proposal just launched by MOL to interconnect the gas transmission networks of at least seven Central and South-East European countries within an... MORE
NETS: JOINT GAS TRANSMISSION NETWORK PROPOSED IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
The Hungarian energy company MOL is proposing the unification of gas transmission pipeline systems in Central and Southeastern Europe, within a new and independent regional gas transmission network. The existing systems are nationally owned and operated, mainly under state ownership. MOL is privately owned. The... MORE
THE EU COMMISSION BETWEEN MOL AND OMV: ANOTHER “SLEEPWALKING” CASE?
Italy’s ENI energy champion CEO Paolo Scaroni recently noted that the European Union was “sleepwalking” on energy policy. “It seems incredible that the EU, which debates and legislates every aspect of our existence, including the bends of cucumbers and curves of bananas, failed to spot... MORE
LEX MOL REFLECTS EUROPEAN RETHINKING ON ENERGY INVESTMENT REGIME
Overwhelmingly approved by the Hungarian parliament, the legislation known as “Lex MOL” [MOL law] is set to take effect after the presidential signature as a final formality. The law reacts to Austrian state-controlled energy champion OMV’s hostile takeover bid against MOL, Hungary’s largest economic entity,... MORE
LEX MOL AND THE VOLKSWAGEN RULING: COMPARING APPLES AND ORANGES
On October 23 the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the European Union’s highest court, overturned Germany’s Volkswagen law, which restricts the voting rights of that company’s shareholders to 20%, regardless of the size of the stake owned. The European Commission had initiated the case three... MORE
OMV VERSUS MOL: A TEST CASE FOR THE EU AND ITS ENERGY POLICY
The Austrian government and the state-controlled OMV energy champion have launched a campaign in European media and with EU authorities in Brussels for a hostile takeover of Hungary’s fully private-owned MOL energy champion. Members of the Austrian government, such as Economics Minister Martin Bartenstein and... MORE
NABUCCO GAS PIPELINE PROJECT IS BACK ON TRACK
All players involved in the Nabucco gas pipeline project got their act together at a conference on September 14-15 in Budapest. The European Union demonstrated for the first time a hands-on commitment to the project. The Hungarian government announced its re-commitment after a year’s wavering.... MORE
ENERGY MARKET CONSOLIDATION VERSUS FOREIGN STATE TAKEOVERS IN CENTRAL EUROPE
In common with the Baltic states and Poland, which face the risk of being caught between Russian and German energy policies, Hungary is facing a similar two-front problem, albeit with country-specific differences. In Hungary’s case, Russia and Austria (with Germany in a lesser role) seem... MORE
AUSTRIA’S OMV VERSUS HUNGARY’S MOL: THE LESS EFFICIENT TARGETING THE MORE EFFICIENT
Austria’s national energy champion, OMV, persists with attempts to take over its Hungarian counterpart, MOL, even as OMV itself seems to drift into closer association with Russia. The Austrian government, the single largest shareholder in OMV -- 31.5% direct control plus some small stakes under... MORE
HUNGARY’S MOL ENERGY COMPANY GROWS IN CENTRAL EUROPE AND BEYOND
Hungary’s national energy company, MOL, is mounting an effective defense against a hostile takeover by its Austrian counterpart, OMV, which could lead to Russian takeover of Hungary’s energy sector (see EDM, July 24, 25). As part of its defense -- but also in the course... MORE