Kiev had suspended deliveries of Russian crude since January, causing a rift with EU members Hungary and Slovakia
FILE PHOTO: Oil storage tanks at an oil refinery in Szazhalombatta, Hungary. © Getty Images / Janos Kummer/
Ukraine
has restarted the flow of Russian oil to the EU via the Druzhba
pipeline after a pause of almost three months, Hungarian energy giant
MOL has said.
The company said in a statement that Ukrainian
operator JSC Ukrtransnafta has informed it that Ukraine began receiving
crude from Belarus via the Druzhba pipeline system at noon on Wednesday.
According to MOL, it expects the first shipments of Russian oil to arrive in Hungary and Slovakia on Thursday “at the latest.”
Slovak
Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said in a post on Facebook that
Bratislava has also been contacted by Ukrtransnafta and that Slovakia
should begin receiving crude via the Druzhba again on Thursday morning.
Ukraine’s
Vladimir Zelensky said on social media on Tuesday that repairs on the
pipeline had been completed and that it was ready to resume operations.
Kiev halted supplies to Hungary and Slovakia in late January,
claiming that the infrastructure had been damaged by Russian strikes.
Moscow rejected the accusations as “lies.”
The move to
resume supplies by Ukraine comes less than two weeks after a
parliamentary election in Hungary, in which the pro-EU Tisza party led
by Peter Magyar defeated the ruling Fidesz party of longtime Prime Minister Viktor Orban – a harsh critic of EU aid to Ukraine.
During
the campaign, Orban’s government repeatedly accused Kiev of interfering
in the vote. It rejected claims of the Druzhba pipeline being damaged,
arguing that Zelensky was deliberately blocking oil deliveries to create
tensions in the country ahead of the vote. Landlocked Hungary and
neighboring Slovakia are both heavily dependent on Russian energy.
In
recent months, Budapest has vetoed the EU’s planned €90 billion ($105
billion) emergency loan for Ukraine, citing Kiev’s reluctance to resume
supplies via the Druzhba.
Hours after the resumption of oil flows
was announced, EU ambassadors moved to approve the transfer of funds to
Zelensky’s government, Reuters reported, citing a spokesman for the
Cypriot presidency of the bloc. A formal sign-off on the loan by the 27
member states is expected on Thursday, the agency said.
Budapest
and Bratislava eralier argued that Kiev’s reluctance to allow EU
inspectors to examine the Druzhba pipeline was proof that it has not
been telling the truth about the condition of the infrastructure.
The standoff also led to Zelensky issuing a warning to Orban last month that he would pass “the address of this person to our armed forces” so they could “speak to him in their own language.” The outgoing Hungarian prime minister responded by stressing that “threats to his life” would not make him change his policies regarding Ukraine.
Magyar
said after his election win that he is not intending to veto EU funds
for Kiev, but added that Budapest will not participate in the loan due
to financial difficulties. Earlier this week, he urged Kiev to reopen
the Druzhba, stressing that Hungary would not accept “any kind of blackmail” over energy supplies.
Slovak
Prime Minister Robert Fico also warned earlier that Bratislava would
veto further sanctions on Russia by the EU and resist Ukraine’s
accelerated accession to the bloc if Kiev doesn’t restart the pipeline.
Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated on Tuesday that Ukraine was the only
side to blame for the stoppage of deliveries via the Druzhba. Russia
intends to fulfill its contractual obligations to Hungary, remaining
ready to continue supplying oil to the country, Peskov said.