Ukraine says Russian oil to Hungary, Slovakia has restarted

Oil from Russia bound for Hungary and Slovakia, via the Druzhba pipeline that first goes through Belarus and Ukraine, started flowing again on Wednesday after a monthslong interruption. 

The stoppage had been a source of severe tension between Ukraine and Hungary and Slovakia, which intensified amid the added strain on energy prices caused by the war in Iran and the wider Middle East. 

Restarting supplies should also unlock a massive €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine originally agreed in December, which Hungary and Slovakia had held up at the most recent EU leaders' summit because of the halt in oil supplies. 

Landlocked Hungary and Slovakia are exempt from EU sanctions on Russian oil deliveries imposed since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine because of their pronounced dependence on Moscow as a supplier. 

US waiver boosts Russian oil revenues amid Iran war

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What did the three countries say about the status of oil deliveries? 

Hungary's oil group MOL said in a statement on Wednesday that the Ukrainian operator of the pipeline, Ukrtransnafta, had informed it that it had started receiving crude oil from Belarus. 

"MOL expects the first crude oil shipments following the restart of the Ukrainain section of the pipeline system to arrive in Hungary and Slovakia by tomorrow at the latest," MOL said. 

Similarly, the AFP news agency quoted an unnamed Ukrainian energy industry source as saying that "oil transit was launched and pumping began" not long after midday local time. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had also said a day earlier that oil flows would resume shortly.

Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said on Facebook earlier on Wednesday that the government in Bratislava anticipated the first crude oil deliveries from Russia to reach the country by Thursday. 

Why does reactivating the Druzhba pipeline pave the way for EU financial support for Ukraine? 

The oil deliveries came to a halt in January of this year, with Ukraine saying that a Russian drone strike had damaged the pipeline and meant that lengthy repairs were necessary. 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in particular, but also Slovak PM Robert Fico, had questioned Ukraine's version of events. In March, both leaders refused to approve the EU starting its multi-year, €90 billion (roughly $105 billion) loan package for Kyiv that was originally hashed out in December.

They said that they would only approve the funding, which requires unanimous authorization from the heads of state or government of EU member states, once the oil supplies resumed. 

EU diplomats were meeting on Wednesday trying to finalize details on activating the much-needed financial assistance for Kyiv. 

The war in Iran driving oil prices far higher than they had been in recent years is a major boon to Russia's war economy and a severe headache for Kyiv, which has stepped up attacks on Russian energy facilities. 

Change of government in Budapest imminent after years of tense ties with Kyiv

The completed repairs to and reactivation of the Druzhba (or "friendship" in English) pipeline also coincides with an upcoming change of government in Hungary. 

Longstanding leader Orban, arguably the EU and NATO leader who retained the closest ties to the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin amid the war in Ukraine, lost in a landslide to Peter Magyar earlier this month. 

It's not yet clear what changes this might herald for bilateral ties between Hungary and Ukraine, with Magyar only set to take office next month. Orban has, in any case, said he will not stand in the way of the EU loan package as soon as oil deliveries resume. 

How much Orban influence remains in Hungary's politics?

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Edited by: Sean Sinico