Poland asks Germany to support European sanctions against the German-Polish section of the Russian Druzhba oil pipeline. In Warsaw, they want to abandon contracts for the supply of Russian oil next year and avoid fines.
Reuters writes about this with reference to its own sources.
According to their data, both countries are approaching such an agreement. In return, Poland will coordinate the delivery of oil by sea to Germany via Gdansk.
The EU has promised to stop buying Russian oil from December 5, but the Druzhba oil pipeline is currently exempt from sanctions. This poses a problem for Polish oil refiner PKN Orlen, which has a long-term agreement to buy Russian oil through Druzhba and will have to pay fines for breaking the contract.
If the EU imposed sanctions on the Druzhba — or at least the northern part of it, which passes through Poland and Germany — both countries would be able to exit their obligations to import Russian oil without penalty.
The southern part of the pipeline supplies oil to Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, which, unlike Poland and Germany, will find it difficult to diversify their oil imports. This branch passes through Ukraine, and the Ukrainian budget receives money for transit.
- On November 15, Transneft announced that Ukraine had suspended the pumping of oil through the Druzhba pipeline in the direction of Hungary. The reason for this was a drop in voltage due to rocket attacks. The pumping was resumed the next day.
- Next year, Ukraine plans to increase the fee for the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba oil pipeline. From January 1, it is planned to increase the tariffs for the transportation of oil in the direction of Hungary and Slovakia by €2.10 per ton to €13.60. The agency notes that the operator of Ukraineʼs oil transportation system, Ukrtransnafta, addressed the Russian Transneft and explained that Russian attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure led to a significant shortage of electricity, an increase in its cost, a shortage of fuel, and spare parts.