Oil acceptance from the Russian Federation via Druzhba has been ongoing since 02:00 on April 23, confirmed the Economy Minister of Slovakia. Ukraine has resumed transit. "The acceptance of oil is proceeding according to the agreed plan," wrote Denisa Sakova.
Supplies of Russian oil to Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline have resumed. This was confirmed on Thursday, April 23, by Economy Minister Denisa Sakova. According to her, the pumping started at 02:00 (03:00 Moscow time). "Currently, the acceptance of oil is proceeding according to the agreed plan," she wrote on Facebook.
On April 22, Ukraine resumed the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline towards Hungary and Slovakia. Supplies began at 12:35 local time (the same as Moscow time), a representative of the Ukrainian energy sector told AFP.
Hungarian oil company MOL reported that the Ukrainian operator of the Druzhba pipeline, Ukrtransnafta, notified it about the start of oil acceptance from Belarus through the Druzhba pipeline system at noon on April 22.
Repair after Russian strikes
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram on April 21 that the repair of the damaged section of the pipeline had been completed in accordance with agreements with the EU. Zelensky did not rule out new Russian strikes on infrastructure but assured that specialists had created the necessary conditions for the system to resume operation.
Transit through the southern section of Druzhba was interrupted in January. Hungary and Slovakia viewed the halt as politically motivated, while Kyiv insisted that the pipeline had been damaged as a result of Russian attacks.
The halt in transit had financial consequences for Ukraine: in February, Hungary blocked both the next package of EU sanctions against Russia and financial assistance to Kyiv from the European budget. Prime Minister Viktor Orban linked the lifting of the veto to the resumption of oil supplies. Kyiv hopes that the restart of Druzhba will remove the last obstacle to receiving a €90 billion loan from the EU.
