The future Prime Minister of Hungary, Peter Magyar, said that the pumping of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline may resume next week after a multi-month pause, and the issue of supplies remains key for both the energy sector and the dispute over aid to Ukraine. This was reported by Kurs Ukrainy, the PromPolitInform portal reports.
According to Magyar, the head of the Hungarian oil company MOL Zsolt Hernády informed him about the resumption of the flow, and next week he himself will go to Russia to discuss further oil supplies. At the same time, the future Prime Minister emphasized that for Budapest it is not enough to simply technically launch the pipeline – the oil itself must also flow through it.
The Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Russian oil to Central Europe through the territory of Ukraine, has been out of service since January after being damaged by a Russian drone strike. Since then, its restoration has become not only an infrastructure issue, but also a political one.
During the election campaign in Hungary, the current Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Kyiv of delaying the repairs for political reasons, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected these accusations. Orban later said that he would block the EU loan for Ukraine worth 90 billion euros until supplies through the Druzhba pipeline are resumed.
Magyar had previously said that he expected the Hungarian veto to be lifted after the resumption of pumping. Zelensky, for his part, said this week that supplies through the pipeline could be restored by the end of April.
