Slovak government declares oil emergency, will release oil from reserves to Slovnaft refinery

Bratislava, 18 February (CTK correspondent) - The Slovak government today declared an oil emergency due to the earlier disruption of oil supplies through Ukraine; the measure will take effect on Thursday. The cabinet of Prime Minister Robert Fico also agreed that the state would lend up to 250.000 tonnes of oil from its emergency reserves to the Slovnaft refinery in Bratislava. The move is intended to help the company get through the period until it secures supplies via another route.

Russian oil supplies to Slovakia and Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline have been disrupted following January attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. According to international media, the attacks were carried out by Russia. Fico told reporters today, however, that it was not clear who had damaged the pipeline. He also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of blocking the resumption of oil transit for political reasons, although, according to the Slovak prime minister, the damaged section of the Druzhba pipeline in Ukrainian territory had already been repaired. He also threatened that Ukraine would lose Slovakia’s support for its ambitions to join the European Union.

According to a government document, the stated volume of oil will cover Slovnaft’s operations at minimum capacity for at least one month while maintaining supplies to the Slovak market. Providing oil from state reserves is intended to help the refinery bridge the gap until Slovnaft secures supplies via the Adria pipeline, which runs to Slovakia from the Croatian port of Omišalj. Fico said transit fees on this route are five times higher than for transporting oil via the Druzhba pipeline.

Slovnaft CEO Gabriel Szabó said the refinery had already ordered tankers carrying oil. The company, which is part of Hungary’s MOL Group, could return to full production capacity at the beginning of April. He said that in response to the supply disruption, Slovnaft had shut down one oil-processing unit with a daily capacity of 8500 tonnes, while a second unit with the same capacity was not operating at full capacity. The state will lend the oil to Slovnaft until the end of September this year.

Szabó said Slovnaft plans to complete investments in technologies to process non-Russian oil by the end of next year.

Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Saková said Ukraine had repeatedly postponed the date for resuming oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline. The latest date, she said, had been set for this coming Friday.

Saková’s remarks also suggested that she sees Prague’s offer to supply oil from the Czech Republic to Slovakia more as a possible solution for the future. She said this was because substantial investment would be needed on the Czech side. Czech Industry and Trade Minister Karel Havlíček said during a visit to Bratislava on Tuesday that the current technical setup would allow only smaller volumes of oil to be supplied from the Czech Republic to Slovakia.

Slovakia’s opposition Freedom and Solidarity party criticised the government for remaining silent about the disruption of oil supplies to Slovakia until last week. Fico has now explained that the media would have spread panic.