Hungary confirms resumption of oil supplies via Druzhba on April 21

Hungarian Minister for European Union (EU) Affairs Janos Boca confirmed on April 20 that the Ukrainian side will resume oil supplies from Russia to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline on April 21.

"Today I was in Brussels, where I discussed, among other things, the resumption of the Druzhba oil pipeline. The most likely scenario is that the Ukrainian side will announce the resumption of the pipeline at about noon on Tuesday," he said in a Facebook post (owned by Meta, a company recognized as extremist and banned in Russia).

He clarified that after the official notification, the Ukrainian operator will contact the Hungarian company MOL. The company provides raw materials to oil refineries in Hungary and Slovakia. In addition, Boca added that if Hungary had not blocked the EU loan to Ukraine for €90 billion, the pipeline supplies would never have resumed.

At the same time, the minister rebuked the European Commission (EC) for refusing to protect the interests of an EU member state in a situation where Ukraine threatened its energy security.

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Bloomberg reported on the same day that Ukraine expects supplies via the Druzhba pipeline to resume on Tuesday, April 21. It is noted that technical tests of the pipeline are scheduled for Tuesday. According to the agency, the resumption of Druzhba supplies may "pave the way" for unblocking a loan to Kiev worth €90 billion, which was previously vetoed by Budapest.