Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had an exchange with Deputy Minister of Energy Gábor Czepek - head of the Hungarian delegation to Ukraine to inspect the Druzhba oil pipeline. Part of the exchange was posted by the Hungarian leader on Facebook.
In the exchange, Mr. Gábor Czepek shared about the situation of the delegation in Kiev, Ukraine. Regarding the field survey, the Hungarian Deputy Minister of Energy said: "There are results".
The fact is that a meeting organized by Ukraine's Naftogaz company for all embassy representatives has just begun. Our representative, Ambassador Antal Heizer, was also present there," Mr. Czepek said. He noted that only ambassadors are allowed to attend the meeting.
Concluding the exchange, Deputy Minister Czepek said that the inspection delegation was able to leave Kiev with some findings even though members of the group were not allowed to access the Druzhba oil pipeline. He added that the consultation with experts also helped the delegation have more information about the status of the oil pipeline.
The Hungarian delegation arrived in Ukraine on March 11 to assess the status of the Druzhba oil pipeline. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the delegation did not have official qualifications and no official meetings were scheduled. A document later appeared confirming that the Ukrainian side had not accepted the visit in the form requested by Budapest.
Russian oil has not been transported through the Druzhba pipeline since January 27, affecting the oil supply of Hungary and Slovakia. Mr. Orban declared that Budapest has intelligence data showing that the Druzhba pipeline is operating and Ukraine is blocking Russia's oil supply for only political reasons.
In response, Budapest blocked a 90 billion euro loan from the European Union to Kiev. Hungary intends to block this loan until the oil supply through the Druzhba pipeline is restored.
