Shipments of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline resumed Tuesday evening, officials in both countries said, after a brief halt caused by a Ukrainian drone strike on a pumping station in Russia’s Tambov region the previous day.
“The flow of oil to Slovakia is currently standard,” Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said in a statement cited by Reuters.
"In the coming days, we will have clearer information about whether there will be any adjustments to the supply schedule for this month ... However, I believe that given the rapid resumption of flow through the Druzhba pipeline, the impact will be minimal,” she said.
Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also confirmed the resumption of shipments through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline, one of the last remaining conduits for Russian crude into the European Union.
"I have just thanked Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin for the swift rectification of the damages caused by the attack," Szijjártó wrote in a Facebook post.
The European Union banned most Russian oil imports after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but exempted the Druzhba pipeline, which currently supplies Hungary and Slovakia.
The Czech Republic also used to rely on the Russian pipeline, but early this year it ended deliveries after connecting to a separate pipeline in Italy.
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