According to information from the Ukrainian company Ukrtransnafta, pressurization and filling of the Druzhba pipeline on the Ukrainian side from Belarus began on Wednesday morning. The expected resumption of pumping and deliveries to Slovakia is on Thursday in the morning. Minister of Economy Denisa Saková informed about this on the social network.
- On the Ukrainian side of the Druzhba pipeline, pressurization and injection of oil has begun.
- Oil supplies to Slovakia via Družba should resume on Thursday.
- Transpetrol received the oil pumping schedule for April from the Ukrainian partner.
- MOL confirmed completion of repairs and resumption of oil flow from Belarus.
- Hungary blocked a loan to Ukraine, and Zelenskyi connected it with an oil pipeline.
The Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic stated that the state-owned joint-stock company Transpetrol received information from its Ukrainian partner about the resumption of oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline. The Ukrainian side provided the oil pumping schedule for the month of April.
“The restoration of oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline is an important step towards stabilizing the difficult situation on the oil market, which is also affected by developments in the Middle East. We firmly believe that oil supplies will actually start and the functionality of the Druzhba pipeline will no longer be the subject of any speculation.” said Sakova.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that the Hungarian oil company MOL submitted its first application for transit. “MOL has already submitted applications for the first volumes, which will go to Hungary and Slovakia in equal proportion,” the source added.
The Hungarian petrochemical company MOL, which also includes the Bratislava refinery Slovnaft, stated on its website on Wednesday that repair work on the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline has been completed, and oil from Belarus is already flowing to Ukraine through the Druzhba.
According to statements by Ukrainian officials, Druzhba was damaged after the Russian attack on January 27, and Slovakia and Hungary have not received oil through it since then. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán claimed that Družba was not actually harmed and that Ukraine was only blackmailing it. Subsequently, Hungary in the EU blocked a loan for Ukraine in the amount of 90 billion euros, saying that it will release it only after the launch of oil through the Druzhba. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi recently conditioned the repair of Druzhba and the launch of the pipeline on the unblocking of the loan and a shift in accession negotiations to the EU.
