MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. The European Union's ban on supplies of Russian oil via the northern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline to Germany and Poland will not affect the functioning of Russian companies and is safe for the EU, Deputy Director General of the Institute of National Energy Alexander Frolov told TASS.
"The current ban only confirms the current situation. In other words, it is as safe as possible for the EU and will not affect the work of our oil companies," he said.
According to him, in recent years 25-35 mln metric tons have been shipped to Poland and Germany via the northern branch. Moreover, during the discussion of the sixth package of sanctions, which imposed an embargo on Russian oil supplies by sea, Berlin and Warsaw agreed to stop imports in December 2022. However, the Russian side stopped deliveries in 2023, according to the expert.
"Our Western partners are making numerous attempts to catch us violating their own commitments to cut production. These attempts are based on calculations of the volume of sea transportation. But due to the cessation of deliveries on the northern branch of the Druzhba, such attempts do not make sense, because the sea deliveries will increase only by switching part of the pipeline exports," Frolov added.
Experts told TASS earlier that the European Union’s ban on deliveries of Russian oil via the northern branch of the Druzhba export pipeline to Germany and Poland as part of its 11th package of sanctions may entail negative consequences.
The EU’s decision appears to be largely symbolic but may bring Europe closer to banning oil supplies via Druzhba’s southern branch, Sergey Kondratyev, sector head at the Institute of Energy and Finance, said. "I believe this decision brings us closer to blocking of supplies over the southern branch also because the EU does not have a wide choice of new sanction measures now and the [European] Union has a broad opposition in place against oil supplies over the southern branch, including Poland, Germany and others," he said.
The decision of the EU concerning the northern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline may have long-term implications for Russian oil exports, Nikita Blokhin of Alfa-Bank said. "This decision will not influence Russian companies and budget replenishment at the moment. Speaking about long-term prospects, such a decision envisions that sanctions on the project could remain in effect even after normalization of the geopolitical situation, including as regards the special military operation. In turn, this may lead to a significant decline in the country’s export potential," the expert noted.
Sanctions are not very likely to be imposed on the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline, as evidenced by other EU decisions on the oil sector, Blokhin added.
The European Union has completely banned the supply of Russian oil via the northern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline to Germany and Poland as part of the 11th package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, while raw materials from third countries can still be delivered via this route. The northern section of the Druzhba, which runs towards Poland and Germany, is not currently used to provide these countries with Russian oil. It transports raw resources from Kazakhstan to the German and Polish regions.