Sakova: Oil Supplies Will Be Restored on Monday at Earliest, We Have Reserves

Bratislava, 22 August (TASR) - Oil won't be flowing to Slovakia in the next few days because a pumping station of the Druzhba oil pipeline on the Russian-Belarusian border has been damaged, Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) stated on Friday after the government meeting, adding that supplies should be restored in a few days, optimally on Monday (25 August). However, she also gave assurances that the state has a 90-day supply of crude oil and petroleum products. "There are no risks for us at the moment. Slovnaft also has its stocks, at least for ten days. As far as crude oil is concerned, it has some stocks of finished petroleum products as well," said Sakova. In this regard, she stated, she is in intensive communication with all the parties concerned. "We're monitoring this situation, we're communicating in practical terms with Transpetrol, Slovnaft, MOL, I'm also communicating in practical terms with the Hungarian foreign affairs minister [Peter Szijjarto], and we're closely monitoring this situation. Because the disabling of oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline threatens Slovakia and Hungary," added the minister. The Ukrainian army has attacked the Druzhba oil pipeline infrastructure on Russian territory three times in nine days, and supplies via this pipeline, which also transports oil to Slovakia and Hungary, have therefore been suspended. The Slovak and Hungarian Foreign Affairs Ministers, Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) and Peter Szijjarto, respectively, have sent a joint open letter to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and EU Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen on Friday concerning this, calling on the European Commission (EC) to immediately ensure adherence to commitments related to the security of energy supplies of EU-member states. The ministers reminded Kallas and Jorgensen of the fact that the EC in its resolution from 27 January 2025 stated that the integrity of energy infrastructure supplying EU-member states is a matter of security for the whole Union. In this regard, the Commission called on all third countries to respect this. am/df