Russian oil began flowing through the Druzhba pipeline's Ukrainian section on 22 April, with deliveries to Slovakia and Hungary expected the following morning, according to statements from Slovak Deputy PM Denisa Saková and Hungarian oil company MOL. The restart ends a nearly three-month halt that sparked a diplomatic crisis between Ukraine and two EU member states, with both Budapest and Bratislava retaliating against Kyiv over a pipeline that Russia itself had struck.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announced the completion of repairs on 21 April. Ukrtransnafta officially notified Hungary of the end of the force majeure the same day at 18:00.
Oil is flowing again
Slovak Deputy PM and Economy Minister Saková posted on Facebook that, according to Ukrtransnafta data, pressurizing and filling of the Druzhba pipeline began on the Ukrainian side from Belarus on the morning of 22 April. She said resumption of pumping and deliveries to Slovakia is expected on the morning of 23 April.
MOL separately notified capital market participants that Ukrtransnafta had informed it that crude from Belarus via Druzhba had begun arriving in Ukraine at noon on 22 April. MOL said it expects the first crude shipments following the restart of the Ukrainian section to reach Hungary and Slovakia by 23 April at the latest.
Russia bombed the pipeline. Hungary blocked the loan. Ukraine is about to pay for both to unblock.
Slovakia's sanctions condition
The day before, at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 21 April, Slovak FM Juraj Blanár stated that Bratislava would not block the 20th EU sanctions package against Russia if Ukraine restored oil flow through Druzhba.
Orbán lost to Péter Magyar's Tisza party in a landslide on 12 April, with Magyar's coalition winning a two-thirds supermajority. Magyar said he sees no reason to block the €90 billion loan — though Tisza MEPs had voted against it during the campaign.
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