Fico: Slovakia Set to Receive 119,000 Tonnes of Oil via Druzhba by End of April

Bratislava, 23 April (TASR) - A total of 13,500 tonnes of oil are expected to arrive in Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline on Thursday, with the schedule projecting a total of 119,000 tonnes to be transported by the end of April by state-run joint-stock company Transpetrol primarily to the Slovnaft refinery, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) told a press conference on Thursday. "The Slovnaft refinery is already operating at full capacity; its oil consumption is approximately 17,000 tonnes per day. It will be up to [parent] company MOL to decide whether oil will flow through the Adria pipeline or Druzhba, or a combination of both," said Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD). Sakova added that if the pipeline's southern branch from Ukraine to Hungary isn't functional, Slovakia can also supply oil to the Hungarian refinery. "Oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline will contribute not only to the stability of the region of central Europe, but perhaps the entire European region as well," stated Sakova in connection with Lufthansa cancelling flights due to low reserves of aviation fuel. According to Fico, the Slovak government, along with the Hungarian government and the European Commission, played a significant role in restoring the supplies. He also thanked the Economy Ministry and Transpetrol, reiterating his belief that Ukraine halted the oil supplies for political reasons. "I believe that the opening of the Druzhba pipeline at two o'clock this morning clearly confirmed that it hadn't been damaged," stated Fico. Druzhba was damaged due to the war between Russia and Ukraine on 27 January. Since then, neither Slovakia nor Hungary had been receiving oil through the pipeline. Fico suspected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of halting the supplies for political reasons despite the pipeline being functional. Zelenskyy linked the repair of the Druzhba pipeline to the unblocking of a €90-billion loan from the EU and progress in accession talks. The loan, in which Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are not participating, was unblocked by Hungary on Wednesday (22 April). NOTE: This story has been extended to include paragraphs 2 to 4 and updated in paragraph 5. jrg