Willingness to overcome its war-torn rifts, it showed, as it was announced that it has started flowing again through the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline – after a shutdown that lasted several months – according to officials, paving the way for the release of its roughly 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine, which the country urgently needs and which was previously vetoed by Viktor Orban’s Hungary.
What happened to Druzhba
The Druzhba pipeline has become one of the most politically sensitive energy hotspots in Europe, particularly after a drone attack damaged a section of it in western Ukraine and disrupted oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia.
The Hungarian company MOL announced that it has been informed by Ukraine that deliveries of Russian oil have restarted and expects the first quantities to reach Hungary and Slovakia within the next 24 hours.
Approval in principle of the loan to Ukraine
The pumping started at 12:35 noon (Greek time corresponding to 09:35 GMT), according to a market source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Shortly afterwards, EU member states’ ambassadors in Brussels approved – in principle – the loan to Ukraine, which Hungary had previously blocked, linking its stance politically to the resumption of oil flows.
Hungary and Slovakia, which are heavily dependent on Russian oil, had accused Ukraine of delaying repairs to the pipeline, which Kiev denied. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has repeatedly expressed a friendlier attitude towards Russia compared to other EU leaders.
As a member state of the European Union, Hungary was able to block the loan, even though it does not contribute to its financing. The loan will cover about two-thirds of Ukraine’s financing needs for the years 2026 and 2027 as it continues to deal with the Russian invasion.
The capacity of the Druzhba pipeline, which means “friendship” in Russian, is about 1.2 to 1.4 million barrels per day, with the potential to increase to 2 million barrels. However, flows have dropped significantly due to Western sanctions and repeated disruptions from drone attacks.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha said the country had completed its repairs and commitments and that there must now be joint progress to disburse the loan.
In a separate development, Germany has been told no Kazakh oil will arrive at the PCK Schwedt refinery from May, according to the economy ministry, while market sources say Russia plans to stop exporting Kazakh oil through the same pipeline from May 1, directly affecting the refinery.
