Bloomberg: Ukraine plans to resume “Druzhba” oil pipeline operation tomorrow

Ukraine plans to begin technical tests of the “Druzhba” oil pipeline, which carries Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, on April 21.

This is reported by Bloomberg, citing sources.

This should pave the way for Ukraine to receive a €90 billion loan from the European Union. Hungaryʼs incoming Prime Minister Péter Magyar has said he will not block the loan, like his predecessor Viktor Orbán, but he has also said that the “Druzhba” pipeline should resume Russian oil transit, and the head of Hungarian oil company MOL is planning a trip to Russia this week to negotiate supplies.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he is not against a loan to Ukraine, but will block the 20th package of sanctions against Russia until he receives guarantees of reopening the “Druzhba” oil pipeline.

What about "Druzhba"?

Ukraine has suspended oil transit through the “Druzhba” pipeline since late January due to Russian attacks. For their part, Hungary and Slovakia, which received the vast majority of their oil through “Druzhba”, have said that Ukraine is blocking the oil route "for political reasons".

Hungary then blocked a €90 billion loan for Ukraine from the EU until Kyiv reopened the “Druzhba” oil pipeline. On February 26, Orbán wrote an open letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of anti-Hungarian policies and calling for the reopening of “Druzhba”.

Zelensky reacted and said that he would not restore the “Druzhba” pipeline damaged by Russia, because it involves Russian oil.

In March, Ukraine agreed to EU assistance to repair the “Druzhba” pipeline. At that time, Zelensky reported in a letter to the EU leadership that it would take about a month and a half to restore transit through the “Druzhba”. Already on April 14, Zelensky reported that the pipeline would be repaired by the end of April and that it would resume operations.

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