Slovakian minister confirms Druzhba oil is flowing again
The Slovakian Minister of Economy Denisa Sakova has confirmed that Russian oil is once again flowing into Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline.
23.04.2026, 10:11
23.04.2026, 10:57
SDA
"As of 2.00 a.m. today, the supply of oil via the Druzhba oil pipeline was resumed," the Social Democrat wrote on Facebook. The current flow is "in accordance with the agreed plan".
According to Ukraine, the Druzhba pipeline was damaged by Russian drone attacks on January 27, which is why oil could no longer be delivered to Hungary and Slovakia. However, the left-wing nationalist Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, like the outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, expressed doubts about the justification. Like Budapest, Bratislava also demanded an independent inspection of the pipeline.
Slovakian veto against EU sanctions package
Due to the lack of oil transit, Slovakia joined Hungary in opposing the 20th EU sanctions package against Russia. Unlike Hungary, however, Slovakia did not veto an EU aid loan of 90 billion euros (around 83 billion Swiss francs) for Ukraine that was on the table at the same time.
The veto against the EU sanctions will be abandoned as soon as the oil starts flowing again, it was always said from Bratislava. The formal decisions on the aid loan and the new sanctions package are to be finalized at midday.
Slovakia is still largely dependent on Russian oil supplies and has therefore been granted an exemption from the EU sanctions against Russia, which was also agreed with Kiev. Following the halt in oil supplies via the Druzhba, the Slovakian government declared an "oil emergency" in mid-February. This allowed it to intervene in prices and release oil from state emergency reserves so that the supply to petrol stations did not collapse.
