Hungary, Slovakia stop supplying diesel fuel to Ukraine after Druzhba oil pipeline suspension

MOSCOW. Feb 19 (Interfax) - Hungary has suspended the diesel fuel supply to Ukraine, Western media reported, citing Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

Hungary's MOL earlier said that the Russian oil supply via the Druzhba pipeline, which runs across Ukraine, had been halted since January 27, both to Hungary and Slovakia.

"Today we decided to suspend diesel fuel deliveries to Ukraine. Shipments will not resume until oil transit toward Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline is restored," Szijjarto said in a statement on social media.

"Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has decided not to restart oil transit for political reasons, deliberately putting Hungary's energy supply at risk, while we play an essential role in Ukraine's energy security. A large part of Ukraine's gas, electricity and diesel imports arrives through or from Hungary. We cannot be expected to guarantee another country's energy security while our own supply is put at risk. Energy cooperation must be mutual and based on respect, not pressure," he said.

In turn, the Slovak government said that it has decided to allocate 250,000 tonnes of oil from the State Office of Material Reserves, which will enable Slovnaft to provide supplies to the country for at least a month. The company will be able to use these reserves starting next week and will have to return the oil by September 2026.

Since oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline were interrupted, the government is engaged in an intensive dialogue with Slovnat to find alternative sources, including the use of the Croatian Adria pipeline, the government's press service quoted Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico as saying. However, Fico said that the transit tariff for this route is five times higher.

Fico also vowed that there would be no shortage of petroleum products in Slovakia. The country requires 7,300 to 7,500 tonnes of oil per day to meet its needs. "The Slovak company Slovnaft is currently suspending exports of diesel fuel to Ukraine and other supplies," the government said in a statement.

"Fico discussed the details of the interruption of the Druzhba oil pipeline at the Brody point in Ukraine with Slovak Ambassador to Ukraine Pavel Vizdal. According to him, Ukraine has not yet provided any information about the incident, so the Slovak ambassador to Ukraine has submitted an official note to Ukrainian representatives requesting an explanation," the statement said.

The pipeline is ready for deliveries, Fico said. "We will also ask the European Commission to send a monitoring group to see what really happened in Brody, because if this is political blackmail, as in the case of gas, it is completely unacceptable," Fico said.

Earlier, the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL reported that oil pumping through the Druzhba pipeline to both Hungary and Slovakia had been halted since January 27. This pipeline ships Russian oil via Ukraine.

MOL has asked the Hungarian Energy Ministry to release strategic oil reserves. "To make up for the shortfall, MOL has started supplying its refineries with seaborne crude oil. Due to the longer transit times involved in maritime transport, this supply route is being established gradually: the first shipments are expected to arrive at the port of Omisalj in Croatia in early March, from where it will take a further 5-12 days for the crude oil to reach the MOL Group's refineries," the company said.

MOL said that if supplies via Druzhba do not resume in the coming days, Hungary might need to release approximately 250,000 tonnes of strategic reserves in the first phase. According to European Union regulations, both countries have sufficient crude oil reserves for approximately 90 days.

Earlier, Hungary and Slovakia requested that Croatia arrange Russian oil deliveries via the Adria pipeline. The pipeline ships raw materials from the port of Omisalj in the Adriatic Sea to refineries in Croatia and other countries in Southeast and Central Europe. The pipeline, which is approximately 630 kilometers long, has a capacity of 34 million tonnes of oil per year. The operator is Croatia's JANAF.

Meanwhile, Budapest is mulling the possibility of cutting off electricity and gas supplies to Ukraine until oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline are restored, Hungarian Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Gergely Gulyas said at a press conference on Thursday.

"We are also considering the option of stopping power and gas shipments towards Ukraine. There will be further countermeasures if the Ukrainian government does not change its decision and continues to halt the Druzhba pipeline with false arguments," Gulyas was quoted by Western media outlets as saying.

He added that Hungary is coordinating its actions with Slovakia, which is affected by the disruption of oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, as well.

The previous day, Slovak Prime Minister Fico did not rule out that Bratislava would also stop supplying electricity to Ukraine.