Ukraine resumed the transit of Russian oil via a major pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia. It is a sign of resolving a deadlock for a month during which the €90bn (£78bn) EU loan to Kyiv was put on hold.
The European Union’s ambassadors gave their green light for the loan during a meeting at Brussels. At the same time the package included 20th round of sanctions against Russia. It will be formally adopted on Thursday. Originally the funding was agreed in December however following the report of the Ukrainian side about the destruction of infrastructure and oil stoppage by Russian attacks, the former Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbn blocked it through a veto in February.
Orbn continued to demand the restoration of oil supplies and putting it as the condition for the loan to be released. Ukrainian authorities announced that repair work had been finished on Tuesday. Therefore, the resumption of pumping followed. Ukrainian sources informed their Hungarian and Slovakian counterparts that the transit had been restarted. The transit operations were launched hours before the EU ambassadors’ meeting for the discussion of the loan.
It is worth noting that the political landscape in Hungary underwent a major change when Orbn lost the election last Sunday. This has ended his 16-year era of rule. His successor, Pter Magyar, has already suggested that one of his first steps would be to repair relations with Brussels by removing the obstacles that had impeded negotiations.
EU foreign policy chairwoman Kaja Kallas underlined the importance of the funds by stressing that it sends a very strong message of Europe’s steadfast support to Ukraine and its capability to stand up to Russia. Right now, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka regards the loan as “a matter of life and death” and noted that the majority of the funds, more than half, will go towards the military while a smaller portion will be used for general economic needs.
Slovakia’s Economy Minister Denisa Sakova by responding to the recent developments told Slovak Radio that the, “pipeline operator Ukrtransnaft has started to pressurize the Druzhba pipeline on Wednesday which means oil is expected to reach Slovakia on Thursday for the first time since 27 January”.
The Ukrainian side hinted that transit restarted at 12:35 local time (09:35 GMT). But still the official amount is not known. Hungarian energy company Mol also mentioned that it expects the supply of oil to be resumed by Thursday.
