By Krisztina Than and Jan Lopatka
BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, April 22 (Reuters) – Hungary and Slovakia expect deliveries of Russian oil to resume through a pipeline via Ukraine after a halt lasting months, which could in turn unblock a 90 billion euro ($105.79 billion) EU loan urgently needed by Kyiv.
The Druzhba pipeline has become one of the most politically charged pieces of infrastructure in Europe since a Russian drone strike damaged the pipeline in western Ukraine and stopped Russian oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia.
Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the Slovak government had accused Ukraine of delaying the repairs, which Kyiv denied.
When exactly the Ukraine loan could be released depends largely on Hungary and Slovakia and whether they will want the oil flows to first arrive in their countries.
READY TO RESUME TRANSIT
Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said on Wednesday that crude oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline from Ukraine to Slovakia were expected to resume early on Thursday.
She said on Facebook that Ukraine had told Slovakia work had begun in Belarus to build up pressure in the pipeline, as required to allow oil, which has been halted since late January, to flow again.
Meanwhile, Hungarian oil group MOL said Ukraine has informed it that deliveries of Russian crude would resume through the Druzhba pipeline.
“According to the notification, JSC Ukrtransnafta is ready to resume crude oil transit to Hungary and Slovakia,” MOL said in a statement.
An industry source told Reuters on Tuesday that Ukraine would resume pumping oil through the Druzhba pipeline on Wednesday, after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said repairs were complete and urged the EU to allow the 90 billion euro loan.
UKRAINE LOAN AT STAKE
With the prospect of oil flowing again, ambassadors of EU countries in Brussels will resume their discussions on the final approval for the loan that Budapest opposed pending the resumption of oil exports.
Hungary as a European Union member state has the power to block the loan even though it is not contributing to it. It will cover two thirds of Ukraine’s financing needs in 2026 and 2027 as it seeks to fend off Russia’s invasion.
The capacity of Druzhba, which in Russian means friendship, is 1.2 million to 1.4 million barrels a day, with the possibility to increase up to 2 million barrels a day. However, flows fell to a small fraction of that as a result of Western sanctions as well as repeated disruptions from drone attacks.
Hungarian election winner Peter Magyar called on Zelenskiy on Monday to reopen the damaged pipeline as soon as it is functional, and for Russia to resume shipments.
“We have fulfilled all our confirmations and commitments. We have done everything … and the infrastructure has been repaired,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said. “Now we need to move forward together so that Ukraine can receive the loan.”
Separately, Germany has been informed that no Kazakh crude oil would reach its PCK Schwedt refinery from May, the economy ministry said. Industry sources had said on Tuesday that Russia was set to stop oil exports from Kazakhstan via the Druzhba pipeline starting from May 1, which would directly hit PCK, one of Germany’s biggest refineries.
($1 = 0.8511 euros)
(Reporting by Krisztina Than, Jan Lopatka; Writing by Jan Strupczewski and Ingrid Melander;Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Barbara Lewis)
