Hungary’s central bank has imposed a €122,000 fine on oil and gas group MOL for failing to promptly disclose information related to a disruption in crude oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline.
According to the regulator, MOL should have informed investors about the incident by 12 February, but only issued an official statement on 16 February, after the disruption had already been widely reported in the media and discussed by government officials.
The case concerns damage to the Druzhba pipeline at the end of January, which temporarily interrupted crude oil supplies. The central bank stated that the event represented price-sensitive information that could have influenced investor decisions and therefore required immediate disclosure.
The regulator has also opened a separate investigation into trading activity in MOL shares during the period following the pipeline incident. The probe was triggered by concerns raised by the Hungarian Association for the Protection of Individual Investors (TEBESZ), which argued that the market was not informed in time about developments affecting a key supply route.
Public filings on the Budapest Stock Exchange show that four MOL executives sold shares worth a combined €4.4 million between 27 January and 6 February, a period directly overlapping with the disruption.
The central bank has not released further details on the ongoing investigation. MOL has stated that it acted in accordance with all applicable regulations and continues to cooperate fully with the authorities.
