Russian oil flows via Druzhba pipeline resume to Hungary, Slovakia

Hungary's foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said the pipeline was still operating at low pressure while Slovakia's economy ministry said flows had resumed without providing further detail. Druzhba flows to parts of Eastern and Central Europe were temporarily suspended on Tuesday for technical reasons, according to oil pipeline operators in Hungary and Slovakia.

Russian crude oil shipments to Hungary and Slovakia via the key Druzhba pipeline have restarted, officials said on Wednesday, after a temporary shutdown on Tuesday.

The Druzhba pipeline network originates in Russia and splits in Belarus into Ukraine, where it splits again, supplying several countries in Eastern and Central Europe that depend on that oil, including refineries in landlocked Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Hungary's foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said the pipeline was still operating at low pressure while Slovakia's economy ministry said flows had resumed without providing further detail.

Druzhba flows to parts of Eastern and Central Europe were temporarily suspended on Tuesday for technical reasons, according to oil pipeline operators in Hungary and Slovakia. Hungary's MOL said that its Ukrainian partner told the company that a Russian rocket hit a power station providing electricity for a pump station, leading to the stoppage.

Szijjarto said on Facebook on Wednesday that repairs had been carried out to an extent that allowed oil shipments to restart to Hungary "a few minutes before." "For the time being, this is at low pressure in this phase, but technical works are underway in order to allow shipments to resume at usual full pressure, so at normal levels," Szijjarto said.

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