The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary are not taking part in the EU’s import ban on Russian oil – but they have not received any oil from the Druzhba pipeline for more than a week. The operator claims missing transit fees. Now the Czech Republic is also finding a solution.
After an interruption of more than a week, Russian oil is flowing back to the Czech Republic through the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline via the Ukraine. “Supply resumed at 8 p.m.,” said a spokeswoman for the Czech transit company Mero on Friday evening. Czech Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela said earlier that his country had found a way to allow transit fees to be paid for oil supplies again.
The Russian company that operates the pipeline, Transneft, announced on Tuesday that oil supplies through Ukraine had already been suspended the previous Thursday. The reason given by Transneft was that a bank transaction to pay transit fees to Ukraine was rejected at the end of July due to Western sanctions against Russia. In addition to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary were also affected.
The Slovakian oil company Slovnaft and its Hungarian parent company MOL then offered to pay the transit fees for the pipeline section through Ukraine. Both the Ukrainian and Russian sides agreed. Deliveries to Slovakia then resumed on Wednesday and those to Hungary on Thursday. The Czech Republic had negotiated for itself and now also achieved a solution.
In April, the EU countries agreed on a gradual oil embargo against Russia. However, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with reference to their heavy dependence on Russian supplies, pushed through an extensive exemption from supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.
