VIENNA -- The reopening of a crude-oil pipeline linking Croatia's Adriatic coast to central Europe this week is likely to strengthen the hand of the region's importers and challenge Russia's dominance as supplier to the area.


The pipeline -- a main artery linking a Croatian deep seaport in the Adriatic to Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia -- was to accept the first flow of new crude on Thursday, four years after it was shut down as a result of the war in the former Yugoslavia.


The reopening of the pipeline, which can carry up to 400,000 barrels per day, is expected to bring economic benefits throughout the region.


"Hungary and the Czech Republic will probably benefit most," said Derek Marshall, an oil industry analyst at Arthur D. Little in London. "The Adria pipeline will help them to hedge their bets in terms of supply and price negotiations."


At present, refiners in both countries are wholly reliant on supplies of Russian crude through the "Friendship" pipeline, an at times unreliable source of oil.


The Czech Republic takes delivery of around 110,000 bpd of


Russian crude and Hungary imports roughly 105,000 bpd in addition to its own production of almost 40,000 bpd.


"Both the Hungarian and Czech partners have been very eager to help restart the pipeline," said a spokeswoman for the pipeline operators in Zagreb, Croatia.


The first section of the pipeline, which runs from Omisalj on the Croatian coast to Sisak in central Croatia, has a nominal capacity of 400,000 bpd, she said. The northern branch, which continues through Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, should be able to carry up to 200,000 bpd.


Analysts said the opening of the pipeline could help the former eastern bloc countries lighten their crude slates andswitch away from relatively high-sulphur Russian Urals crude.


The pipeline could carry low-sulphur Libyan, Algerian and Nigerian crudes, which yield more valuable, light oil products like gasoline, they said.


"Longer term there will definitely be a trend towards sweeter crude if only for environmental reasons," said Marshall. "Refiners will probably blend off Urals with lower-sulphur import crudes."


Hungarian oil trading company Mineralimpex has said it welcomes the flexibility the Adria pipeline will bring but it expects Urals to remain its baseload crude, mainly because the Russian grade is cheaper.


"There is a tendency for crude through the Friendship pipeline to be below market prices," agreed John Mitchell of Britain's Royal Institute for International Affairs' energy and environment program.


"The Adria pipeline will probably remain marginal in terms of volume," said a London-based analyst. "But its significance is that the buyer is no longer exposed to the unreliability of Russian supplies."


Crude exports along the Friendship pipeline have been erratic since the break-up of the Soviet Union.


The flow has already been disrupted this year by a dispute over oil transit fees between Russia and Ukraine that hit refiners in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.