Hungarian delegation travels to Ukraine to inspect Druzhba oil pipeline: what is known
11 March 19:12
Hungarian State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy Gabor Csapek is heading to Kyiv for talks on the earliest possible launch of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing Csépe’s statement on Facebook.
According to Csépe, the Hungarian delegation has traveled to Ukraine to hold talks on resuming the operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline and to inspect its condition.
“On the way to Kyiv!” the Hungarian official said in his statement.
Negotiations not only with the Ukrainian government
Csepel said that the Hungarian delegation wants to hold talks not only with the Ukrainian government, but also with a representative of the European Commission on the resumption of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
“This oil is the property of Hungary and is not subject to EU or US sanctions. This oil belongs to us,” he said.
In addition to the Hungarian State Secretary for Energy, an oil industry expert, a government leader with experience in international relations, and an energy market analyst also traveled to Ukraine.
According to Chepek, before leaving for Kyiv, the Hungarian delegation held talks in Bratislava with representatives of the Slovak energy market and government.
Conflict over Druzhba
Recall that at the end of February, Viktor Orbán held talks with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. According to him, both prime ministers disagree that it is impossible to resume the operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline due to technical problems.
Orbán noted that for this reason, Hungary and Slovakia want to create a so-called “investigative commission” and are demanding that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky grant them access to the facility.
It should be noted that Hungary blocked the allocation of a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine, demanding the resumption of Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline.
Budapest promised to lift the veto only after the resumption of supplies, arguing that this was a violation of the Association Agreement.
In addition, in early March, the Hungarian prime minister once again accused Ukraine of allegedly blocking oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline and threatened to resume its operation by force.
