Hungary says transit of Russian oil via Druzhba pipeline has resumed

János Bóka, Hungary's Minister for EU Affairs, has said that the transit of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline towards Hungary through Ukraine resumed on 22 April.

Source: Bóka on Facebook, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Bóka said that oil transportation via the Druzhba pipeline from Belarus towards Ukraine resumed at 11:35 local time on 22 April.

He added that calculations indicate that Russian oil could arrive in Hungary later the same day, but no later than the morning of 23 April.

"It is vital for Hungary's energy supply that the Druzhba pipeline operates and that the country can genuinely make use of lawful, cheap and reliable purchasing options through it," the Hungarian minister said.

Bóka stressed that this is "especially important" given that the crisis in the Middle East has led to rising energy prices.

Quote: "In this situation, we were guided by the principle of maximising supply sources and routes, but under no circumstances reducing them. Diversification means greater security for families and economic actors, and only diversification can maintain purchase prices at a level that ensures the competitiveness of the Hungarian economy and the protection of consumers."

Details: Bóka also noted that blocking the €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine "was not the goal, but a tool for defending interests, made necessary by Ukraine's bad-faith behaviour".

Quote: "The Ukrainian oil blockade has been broken. It has been proven that Ukraine blocked oil transportation for political reasons, and also that they ran out of money earlier than we ran out of oil. Hungary's tactics proved successful."

Background:

• Earlier, Hungarian company MOL announced that it had received notification from Ukrtransnafta about the completion of repairs on the pipeline and readiness to resume transit.
• Reuters, citing sources, reported that Ukraine will resume oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline on the afternoon of 22 April.
• A procedure to finalise approval of the EU's €90 billion loan to Ukraine, previously blocked by Hungary and Slovakia, is currently underway in Brussels.

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