The operator of the Druzhba pipeline in the Czech Republic, state-owned Mero, officially confirmed on April 4 the disruption in oil supply - TASS reported.
The announcement, published on the company's official website, said the incident did not affect the country's energy security, as the Czech Republic had stockpiled enough reserve oil within 90 days.
Mero said it is actively investigating the cause of the incident to soon restore normal operations.
Previously, Novinky news site quoted Czech Industry and Trade Minister Lukas Vlcek as saying that the government of this country had noted problems related to oil transportation via the Druzhba pipeline.
The Druzhba pipeline has a route from Almetyevsk (Russia) to Bryansk, entering Belarus before splitting into two branches. The southern branch goes through Ukraine to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, while the northern branch leads oil to Poland and Germany.
This is not the first time oil supplies via Druzhba have encountered problems. In December 2024, the pipeline was also temporarily interrupted for two days before resuming operations.
Amid geopolitical tensions and a changing energy strategy, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said in January 2025 that Prague plans to completely stop importing Russian oil via Druzhba. Instead, the Czech Republic will switch to the Transalpine (TAL) pipeline, which has been upgraded to increase oil transport capacity.
The European Union (EU) has imposed a embargo on Russian oil and petroleum products since June 2023, but the southern branch of Druzhba has been temporarily exempted. The grace period expires in June 2025, forcing countries receiving oil via the route to seek alternative supplies.
