Russian Oil Resumes Flow to Slovakia via Druzhba Pipeline After Nearly 3-Month Pause
Russian oil supplies to Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline resumed on April 23 after a nearly 3-month halt. This follows Hungary and Slovakia's condition for resuming transit to approve a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine and the 20th sanctions package against Russia.
Deliveries of Russian oil to Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline, which had been suspended for almost three months, resumed at 2:00 AM on April 23. Slovakia's Minister of Economy, Denisa Saková, confirmed that «oil reception is currently proceeding according to the agreed plan».
According to the Slovak publication Aktuality, the Ukrainian side was supposed to provide this plan to the Slovak oil transporter Transpetrol on April 22. The resumption of oil supplies via Druzhba was a key condition set by Hungary and Slovakia for approving an EU loan to Ukraine amounting to 90 billion euros.
On April 22, Hungary confirmed the resumption of Russian oil transit. The written procedure for approving the loan and the 20th package of EU sanctions against Russia, which could not be adopted on February 24 due to vetoes from Hungary and Slovakia, began on April 22 and is expected to conclude on April 23. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the unblocking of the procedure for approving the 90 billion euro loan and the 20th package of EU sanctions, emphasizing the expectation of prompt implementation of the agreements.