Ukrainian oil transshipment operator Ukrtransnafta said that technically it is ready to resume oil pumping through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia, but the company's leadership has not yet approved the restart. The information was shared by many sources in the oil and gas industry with TASS news agency.
According to sources, the Ukrainian side has overcome the incident at the Brody operation and coordination station since January 6. 2. The transportation of Russian oil through the main Mozyr-Brody pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia was stopped at the end of January at the request of the Ukrainian side, but the specific cause has not been announced.
Technical conditions to resume transportation are ready, but the final decision has not yet been made by Ukrtransnafta's leadership," the sources noted.
Previously, Hungarian Foreign Minister and Minister of Trade Peter Szijjarto accused Ukraine of blocking Russian oil through Druzhba to put pressure on the Hungarian government ahead of parliamentary elections.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Ukraine deliberately blocked oil supplies to cause difficulties for the Hungarian government before the election, while creating an advantage for the opposition Tisza Party in the power struggle with the ruling Fidesz party - Hungarian Civic Union.
He called this a serious act of interference in the election process and affirmed that the government still ensures energy security for the people even though supply has not been restored.
Meanwhile, the Slovak Ministry of Economy said that the country has sufficient strategic oil and oil product reserves for about 90 days. The Ministry expects supply through Druzhba to be restored in the next few days and believes that the current situation does not threaten national energy security.
According to Bloomberg, Slovakia has not received oil through Druzhba since the beginning of February, after supply decreased significantly since January.
Druzhba is a system of pipelines transporting Russian oil to Europe, supplying to Belarusian oil refineries and transiting to many countries.
The pipeline originates in Russia's Samara region, passes through Bryansk and then separates into two northern and southern branches. Hungary and Slovakia receive oil directly through the southern branch, and from Hungary oil continues to be transferred to Serbia.
