MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak reiterated that Germany and Poland had applied to receive oil via the Druzhba pipeline.
"Even Germany and Poland, which announced that they would give up Russian oil, have applied for pumping for 2023," he said in an interview with TASS.
But he also added that the countries do not specify in their applications what oil they plan to receive, Russian or Kazakh oil.
Commenting on statements from the German government that Germany expects supplies of Kazakh oil and not Russian oil through Druzhba, he said: "The applications do not indicate what kind of oil it will be."
Earlier, head of the Russian oil pipeline operator Transneft, Nikolay Tokarev, said on the Rossiya-24 TV channel that the company had received applications from Poland and Germany to pump oil for December and the first quarter of next year, despite reports of their unwillingness to continue deliveries. In response to Tokarev’s statement, the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection announced that the refineries in Schwedt and Leuna will no longer order oil from Russia next year, but applications have been submitted for pumping oil from Kazakhstan.
For its part, Transneft told TASS that Kazakhstan did not ask Transneft to pump its oil to Germany, and only Russia’s Energy Ministry is authorized to make a decision on transit.