Ukraine is still blocking oil from Russia to Hungary, although the Druzhba oil pipeline is technically ready to operate, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said.
The Druzhba oil pipeline is currently not damaged and is eligible for operation, but Russian oil has not yet flowed to Hungary due to the political decision of the Ukrainian leader, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó shared on February 15 in Radio Kossuth radio program.
Commenting on information that the transportation of oil to Slovakia and Hungary through Ukrainian territory was suspended, he emphasized that the Druzhba pipeline "was not damaged by recent attacks".
Damage to infrastructure around the pipeline does not affect operational capacity. Technically, the system is ready to resume oil supply. Therefore, obstruction of operation can only stem from political reasons," the Hungarian Foreign Minister said.
Previously, Mr. Szijjártó accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of ordering the blockade of Russian oil to Hungary through Druzhba to cause difficulties for the country's government ahead of parliamentary elections.
On February 13, many sources in the oil and gas industry said that Ukrainian oil transportation company Ukrtransnafta is technically ready to restore Russian oil flows through Druzhba to Hungary and Slovakia. However, the company's leadership has not yet licensed the resumption of operations.
According to sources, the Ukrainian enterprise completed the handling of the incident at the Brody production and operation station on February 6, but so far the oil pump has not been restarted.
