Ukraine postponed oil supply resumption to Saturday, Bratislava says

Bratislava/Prague, Feb. 19 (CTK) - Ukraine has pushed back the planned date for resuming oil supplies to Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline to Saturday. The Slovak Ministry of Economy told CTK today. This would mean a further one-day delay compared with the date Slovakia had most recently expected. Russian oil supplies to Slovakia and Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline have been suspended following January attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Supplies to Czechia, which receives oil via the western route, are stable, the Administration of State Material Reserves (SSHR) said today.

Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Saková said on Wednesday, when the government in Bratislava first approved declaring an oil emergency, that Kyiv had repeatedly postponed the resumption of oil transit. Saková then gave this Friday as the next announced date.

Hungary and Slovakia accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week of blocking the resumption of oil transport via the Druzhba pipeline for political reasons. Bratislava and Budapest also announced that they would halt diesel exports to Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the Slovak government agreed to lend up to 250,000 tonnes of oil from state reserves to the Slovnaft refinery in Bratislava. If the interruption of oil supplies via Ukraine continues, this would allow Slovnaft, which is part of Hungary's MOL Group, to produce fuels during the interim period at least for the domestic market. Slovnaft has also begun preparations to import oil via the Adria pipeline, which runs to Hungary and Slovakia from the Croatian port of Omišalj.

The interruption of oil supplies via Ukraine has not affected the Czech Republic, as since last year oil has entered the country only via the western route through the TAL and IKL pipelines. “The Czech market is being supplied steadily, and reserves are sufficient. The interruption of supplies to Slovakia and Hungary has therefore had no impact on our market,” SSHR Chairman Pavel Švagr said today. He also noted that the administration has oil reserves sufficient for about 88.5 days.

According to foreign media, the Druzhba pipeline in Ukraine was damaged by Russian attacks in January. Russia invaded its neighbouring country militarily four years ago. Fico, who has long defended imports of Russian energy to Slovakia, said on Wednesday that it was unclear who had damaged the pipeline. He said the damaged pipeline had already been repaired.