Hungary still sees Druzhba as its main oil import route, minister says

The Druzhba pipeline will remain Hungary’s main route for oil imports. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said this today, according to Reuters. The Druzhba pipeline starts 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.

The European Union banned imports of Russian oil in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, however, were granted an exemption for deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline, giving these landlocked countries time to secure other sources of oil imports.

Unlike a number of other European Union member states, Hungary is nevertheless seeking to maintain close political and business ties with Russia, including in the energy sector, Reuters reported.

Szijjártó said today that Druzhba will remain a key route for oil imports to Hungary because tests conducted on the Adria pipeline on the Adriatic coast showed that it has insufficient capacity. Croatian company JANAF, which operates the Adria pipeline, nevertheless told Reuters that the tests confirmed the pipeline was ready to fully secure supplies for the two refineries owned by Hungarian oil group MOL.