Slovakia started receiving crude oil through the Druzhba pipeline early on Thursday, the country's Economy Ministry said, confirming the end of a months-long outage after what Ukraine said was a Russian strike on the pipeline, Reuters reports.
"The Economy Ministry informs that today at 2 a.m. (0000 GMT) the reception of oil to Slovakia through the Druzhba pipeline was resumed," a ministry statement said.
The Druzhba pipeline has become one of the most politically charged pieces of infrastructure in Europe since the halt in Russian oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia in January.
Oil through the Ukrainian section of the pipeline started flowing on Wednesday, prompting Hungary to lift its veto on a 90 billion euro ($105.4 billion) EU loan urgently needed by Ukraine.
Ukraine had said the halt was forced by the necessity to repair the pipeline. Hungary and Slovakia, meanwhile, accused Kyiv of dragging its feet.
Hungary and Slovakia continue to rely on Russian oil and gas and are trying to maintain supplies despite EU efforts to end Russian energy imports after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on TikTok
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on X
