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Druzhba oil pipeline likely to be restored soon, says Hungarian FM

Peter Szijjarto expressed hope that shipments of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline would soon resume

BUDAPEST, November 16. /TASS/. The Druzhba oil pipeline has not been damaged, and one of the components of its infrastructure is likely to be repaired in the near future, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto announced on Wednesday.

"I can tell you encouraging news," he said in a video message on his Facebook page (banned in Russia, owned by Meta Corporation, recognized as extremist in Russia).

"The information we received this morning is that the Druzhba oil pipeline itself was not damaged, but one of the infrastructure components supporting the operation of the pipeline (the station that operates the equipment necessary to ensure the flow of oil) was damaged and is currently being repaired. This is not as serious as if the pipeline itself was damaged, so it is likely to be repaired within a short time."

Szijjarto expressed hope that shipments of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline would soon resume. He also stressed that Hungary has "oil reserves for many months" and therefore the country's energy security is not in jeopardy.

On Tuesday, the Hungarian company MOL announced that it has sufficient oil reserves to ensure the normal operation of its largest enterprise - the Danube refinery in Szazhalombatta. This oil refinery is technologically arranged in such a way that at least 65% of the raw materials for it must come from Russia. MOL CEO Zsolt Hernadi previously noted that it would take two to four years and several hundred million dollars to rebuild the production process at this refinery and switch to another feedstock (with a different sulfur content, density, etc.).

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