Oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline towards Slovakia have been restored, transporter says

Bratislava, March 12 (CTK) – Oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline towards Slovakia have been restored, and crude oil is expected to arrive in the country this evening, Slovak oil transporter Transpetrol told CTK. Slovakia, like Hungary, reported an interruption to oil supplies on Tuesday.

„According to our information, after technical issues on the Druzhba pipeline section outside Slovakia were resolved, oil flows towards our territory resumed, and oil is expected to arrive in Slovakia this evening,“ Transpetrol said.

According to an earlier statement from Hungary, oil transport via Druzhba was halted as a result of a drone attack launched from Ukraine. Ukraine has been defending itself against Russia’s military invasion for more than three years.

The Slovnaft refinery in Slovakia uses oil delivered via the Druzhba pipeline, which begins in Russia and whose southern branch runs through Ukraine to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Although the European Union banned imports of Russian oil in response to Russia’s invasion of a neighbouring country, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were granted an exemption for supplies via Druzhba.

Oil has not flowed into the Czech Republic via the Druzhba pipeline since last week. Refining company Orlen Unipetrol announced on Monday that it was beginning to use oil from state reserves, as promised. Industry and Trade Minister Lukáš Vlček said last week that supplies to the Czech Republic had stopped because payments between Orlen Unipetrol and Russian suppliers had not been made.