Friendship Pipeline Oil Supply: Ukraine Ready to Resume to Hungary & Slovakia

Oil Flows Resume to Hungary and Slovakia After Ukrainian Pipeline Strike

Shipments of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline resumed Tuesday evening, officials in both countries confirmed, following a brief interruption caused by a Ukrainian drone strike on a pumping station in Russia’s Tambov region the previous day.

“The flow of oil to Slovakia is currently standard,” Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said in a statement cited by Reuters. “In the coming days, we will have clearer information about whether there will be any adjustments to the supply schedule for this month… However, I believe that given the rapid resumption of flow through the Druzhba pipeline, the impact will be minimal.”

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also confirmed the resumption of shipments through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline, one of the last remaining conduits for Russian crude into the European Union. “I have just thanked Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin for the swift rectification of the damages caused by the attack,” Szijjártó wrote in a Facebook post.

The European Union banned most Russian oil imports after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but exempted the Druzhba pipeline, which currently supplies Hungary and Slovakia. The Czech Republic previously relied on the Russian pipeline but ended deliveries earlier this year after connecting to a separate pipeline in Italy.

The disruption began in late January when a drone strike caused a fire near the Druzhba oil pipeline in the Lviv region of Ukraine, according to reports. At the time, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry stated that the pipeline itself had not been damaged. However, due to smoke from the burning oil products, extraordinary measures were implemented, and oil deliveries were suspended.

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, UkrTransNafta, the company responsible for ensuring oil transit through Ukrainian territory, is now technically prepared to restart oil shipments via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia. However, the company’s management had not yet authorized the resumption of deliveries as of reporting.

TASS cited multiple sources in the oil industry in reporting this information. These sources indicated that the Ukrainian company completed its response to the emergency situation at the Brody production and regulation station in Ukraine on February 6th.

A similar incident occurred in August of last year, when an attack on a pumping station in Russia’s Bryansk region temporarily halted Russian oil shipments to Hungary. The Druzhba pipeline, a critical infrastructure for Hungary’s oil needs, traverses Ukraine, allowing oil to flow into Hungary and Slovakia.

Ukraine continues to transport Russian oil to Slovakia and Hungary despite having halted the transit of Russian gas at the start of last year.