Zsolt Hernádi, the CEO of Mol, took a hard line in Western European hypocracy, as he wrote: "of course we need the 'well-priced' Russian stuff, but we have to keep quiet about it, because if it comes out at home, they won't re-elect me as prime minister".
"Appearances are sometimes deceiving. I have experienced countless times how much it can lead you astray if you are not guided by reality, but by appearances. The compulsion to conform to political correctness, the mainstream, the press, or wishful thinking (everyone substitute their own) is often bad advice, and the end of the story is usually that you hit the wall of reality. Yet, again and again, we want to please others and not ourselves," began his article , and then recalled a previous experience:
I remember that in 2002, as a fresh Mol president, we discussed oil and natural gas extraction opportunities in Russia. Mol was one of the first to conclude a joint venture type contract that did not have a Russian state guarantee. The general opinion among European analysts was that they were crazy.
According to Hernádi, they asked questions like: "What the hell is a European company doing there without a state guarantee?" And if they change their mind? And if they lose it all?”
Photo: Márton Ficsor/Mandiner
Compared to that, however, in a few years
"at a business meeting, there was such a scramble by European companies for Russian opportunities that we literally couldn't get to the table. The largest companies lined up in order to be able to enter into bigger joint venture-based deals as soon as possible. What was a wild heresy in 2002 became mainstream by the end of the decade. It's understandable, since business was good: in 2010, we concluded our contracts as one of Mol's best investments on a profit basis"
he outlined. According to Mol's CEO, the same situation has now arisen.
"An excellent example of the duality of reality and reputational panic is what is happening now in the Russian-Ukrainian war, namely whether it is permissible to buy Russian energy. It will slowly become the new symbol of Western European hypocracy. There is a big PR and political attack, according to which it is morally wrong to do business with the aggressor, and everyone who does this is a black sheep.
- wrote Hernádi, and then noted: Hungary has also been criticized by many for buying Russian crude oil, but "even if we try hard, we cannot transform the infrastructure built in the previous sixty years in a split second".
The CEO also stated that specific deals were thrown into the trash with the justification that "although your offer is good, we cannot take the political risk with you, since you did business with the Russians." He then added:
In the meantime, the reality of two and two is that the most critical Western European countries buy or deliver Russian energy with no strings attached - in scuttlebutt.
As an example, he cited Spain's gas imports, a third of which are from Russia, or the fact that the G7 countries have "so far bought more than $2 billion in 2024 of 'Turkish' diesel oil refined from Russian crude oil."
"Just last week, 1.62 billion euros of the 4.5 billion euros of Russian oil and fuel exports went on ships that were covered by insurers of European countries, helping the Russians' global trade and fight against Ukraine"
he added.
Because, of course, you need the "well-priced" Russian stuff, but you have to keep quiet about it, because if it comes out at home, you won't be re-elected as prime minister
- concluded Hernádi.
In the end, he even touched on the American presidential election, because according to him, "the tension between the pressure to conform and the encounter with reality" could be seen there as well.
"The leaders of the European countries awkwardly avoided the candidate of the Republican Party in the previous year and a half, in light of this, it is a special pleasure to see the intrusion in the congratulations. Just as it is instructive what they said about Donald Trump years ago and what they say now. Of course, it's understandable: it's hard to stay clear in the many pressures to comply, and opinion polls didn't help either: there was a state where Trump was underestimated by more than 10 percentage points."
- written by.
He then concluded his article by saying: "So appearances are sometimes deceiving, I would warn everyone to follow the Szkülla and Kharübdis of the compulsion to conform, because in the end, if not on the rocks, we will end up in the Truman Show, where it is no longer true if they greet you with a good day" . According to him, instead, it's worth listening to common sense and getting to know the reality, because "it's not a small task, but it's the first step on the road to success."
Featured image: MTI/EPA/Igor Kovalenko
