MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. Oil has resumed flowing through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia after a three-month shutdown, the CTK news agency reported, citing Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova.
TASS has gathered the main facts about the situation.
Resumption of oil supplies via Druzhba
- Oil has resumed flowing through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia after a three-month shutdown, the CTK news agency reported, citing Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova.
- Oil began arriving in the country on April 23 after 2:00 a.m. local time (3:00 a.m. Moscow time, or 12:00 a.m. GMT), according to the report.
- Slovakia is receiving crude oil in line with a plan agreed with Kiev, Sakova said.
- Belarus’ state-owned concern Belneftekhim confirmed the information about the start of oil transit through the republic’s territory in the direction of Hungary and Slovakia, BelTA news agency reported on April 22.
- Ukraine will resume transit of Russian oil to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline at noon on April 21, Hungarian Minister for European Union Affairs Janos Boka said on April 20.
- On April 21, Vladimir Zelensky said that repairs to the allegedly damaged section of the Druzhba oil pipeline had been completed and oil pumping could resume, but did not specify a timetable.
- Some 13,500 tons of oil will be delivered to Slovakia on Thursday via the Druzhba pipeline, the republic’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
Views on the situation
- Oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline would never have resumed if Hungary had not blocked the EU’s 90 bln euros credit line for Ukraine, according to Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs Janos Boka.
- It took a lot of effort for Hungarian and Slovak Prime Ministers Viktor Orban and Robert Fico "to literally force the European Commission to kindly ask Zelensky to allow European Commission experts to come and see whether the Druzhba pipeline was really damaged or not," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
- The Druzhba pipeline remains the most efficient infrastructure for energy supplies to Europe and under normal relations should be used to its full capacity, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
- Europe will struggle to survive without oil imports from Russia, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
- The halt in the pumping of Russian oil through the Druzhba oil pipeline caused damages of over 10 bln euros to citizens of EU member states, he said.
- The premier expressed hope that Kiev’s leadership will not halt oil pumping through the Druzhba pipeline.
- The opening of the Druzhba oil pipeline on Thursday "clearly confirms that it was not damaged, but rather used as a tool in the geopolitical standoff," Fico noted.
Forecasts
- Kiev may again shut off gas supplies to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline even after receiving a new loan from the European Union, according to the Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche.
- The publication calls the pipeline’s restoration a "miracle of miracles," noting that it happened overnight, as soon as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who had blocked a multi-billion-dollar loan to Ukraine, was removed from power.
- Meanwhile, the magazine’s observers point out that the matter with the Ukrainian loan "has not yet been finally settled," and that "the flow could quickly dry up" after consent is received from the Slovak authorities to issue new loans to Kiev.
Problems with Druzhba operation
- Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia were halted on January 27.
- Kiev claimed that one facility connected to it was damaged during military operations and transit had to be stopped along the entire route.
- Hungary and Slovakia said that, according to their information, the repairs had long been completed, the oil pipeline was ready for operation, while Ukraine was blocking supplies only for political reasons.
- Ukrainian authorities did not allow EU specialists to inspect the Druzhba pipeline.
- In response, Hungary blocked the EU’s 90 bln euros loan to Ukraine, saying that "as long as there is no oil, there will be no money."
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga acknowledged later that the main obstacle to resuming the Druzhba oil pipeline was Budapest’s blocking of 90 bln euros in European funding for Kiev.
- Due to Ukraine’s suspension of oil transit from Russia, the Hungarian government was forced to provide MOL with raw materials from state strategic reserves.
- Hungary receives more than 80% of oil it consumes via the Druzhba pipeline.