Druschba Russian oil arrives in Slovakia again

“Druschba”: Russian oil arrives in Slovakia again

According to Slovak information, Russian oil is once again flowing through Ukraine to Europe via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline. “Crude oil is already arriving in Slovakia via the ‘Druzhba’ pipeline and supplies are due to resume in Hungary tomorrow,” a spokesman for the Slovakian oil company Slovnaft told AFP today.

Thus, Slovnaft and the parent company MOL, from Hungary, offered to take over the transit fees for the section of the gas pipeline through Ukraine. Both the Ukrainian and Russian sides agreed, the spokesman said. Grupo MOL previously reported that it had passed through the August transit fees.

Transneft stops oil flow in Ukraine

The Russian company that operates the pipeline, Transneft, announced the day before that the flow of oil through Ukraine had already been stopped last Thursday. The reason she gave was that a bank transaction had been rejected in late July due to Western sanctions against Russia. The spokesperson for Slovnaft called it “technical problems at the bank level related to the payment of transit fees on the Russian side”.

In addition to Slovakia and Hungary, the Czech Republic was also affected by delivery failures. According to the operator of the Czech part of the Druzhba pipeline, deliveries have not yet resumed there.

In April, EU countries agreed to a gradual oil embargo against Russia. However, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, citing their heavy dependence on Russian supplies, largely exempted supplies through the Druzhba pipeline.