Fico: Slovnaft will stop supplying diesel to Ukraine if oil transit is not restored

Slovak refinery Slovnaft will halt diesel supplies to Ukraine if transit of Russian oil through Ukraine is not resumed soon. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said this in a speech posted on Facebook. He added, however, that the companies involved in the trade are already considering his proposal for a technical solution to resume transit. Ukraine recently halted the transit of oil from Russian company Lukoil through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary after adding the company to its sanctions list in June.

Last Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyás accused the government in Kyiv of blackmailing Hungary and Slovakia by halting the transit of Lukoil oil, as both countries are calling for a ceasefire in the war between Ukraine and Russia. Fico said today that problems with oil transit would not change Slovakia’s position on the war in Ukraine, which, in his view, needs to end with an immediate ceasefire.

The Druzhba pipeline begins in Russia on the eastern bank of the Volga River and splits into two branches in Belarus – the northern branch runs to Poland and Germany, while the southern branch runs through Ukraine to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Other Russian companies also export oil via this route, and Ukraine allows transit of their crude. Oil supplies to the Czech Republic are continuing normally, according to an earlier statement by pipeline operator Mero.