MOL: JANAF Prices Three Times Higher Than Italian-German-Austrian Rates and 1.5 Times Higher Than Ukrainian

The MOL Group announced today that transit fees charged by the Croatian oil pipeline operator JANAF are several times higher compared to other European routes.

According to MOL, JANAF currently charges a transit fee more than three times higher than the operator of the Transalpine Pipeline (TAL), which transports crude oil from Trieste through Austria to Germany. The Croatian tariff is, it is stated, more than one and a half times higher than the fee applied by the Ukrainian operator Ukrtransnafta, even though transport through Ukraine takes place under wartime conditions and with increased infrastructure risks.

MOL also emphasizes differences in the cost structure. Overland transport through Ukraine enables delivery of crude oil directly from producers without additional maritime costs, while oil arriving at the port of Omisalj, on the Croatian island of Krk, is transported by tankers from countries such as Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, and Norway. According to the company’s estimates, this implies an additional maritime transport cost of 20 to 25 dollars per ton, making the Croatian route even more expensive.

The company also states that in 2022, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, JANAF increased transport fees by more than 70 percent, while, as they claim, no similar increase was recorded among other operators.

A comparative overview of fees per ton per 100 kilometers shows significant differences. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline charges about 1.2 dollars, the Hungarian section of MOL from the Ukrainian border to the Danube Refinery 1 dollar, the same amount charged by Russia’s Transneft on the Samara–Belarus border route. TAL on the Trieste–Vienna route charges about 1.4 dollars, while Ukrtransnafta charges 3.4 dollars for transport from the Belarusian to the Hungarian border. By contrast, JANAF charges 5.3 dollars per ton per 100 kilometers for the section from Croatia to the Hungarian border.

MOL also states that there is currently no signed contract with JANAF and that deliveries are taking place without a formally regulated agreement. The Hungarian company says it is trying to reach a new deal but claims that the Croatian side is abusing its position by not offering transport at what it describes as market-based prices.

The issue of jurisdiction for resolving disputes is also contested: the proposal for a new contract foresees the application of Croatian law and the jurisdiction of courts in Zagreb, instead of the previous practice of applying Austrian law and arbitration before the Arbitration Court in Vienna, which MOL does not accept.

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