According to the latest information, oil supplies to Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline will resume at the beginning of March at the earliest. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that the February deadline has already been definitively dropped and Bratislava is now counting on a provisional date of around 3 March 2026. The announcement comes after a series of delays by Kiev, which have caused growing nervousness not only among politicians but also in the energy sector.
According to the Slovak government, oil transport via the Druzhba pipeline was supposed to resume in February, with the last date quoted being 26 February. However, the Ukrainian side has repeatedly postponed the restart without a clear timetable, which Bratislava criticises as an unpredictable move that threatens the country's energy stability.
Slovakia has long been heavily dependent on Russian oil supplies flowing through Ukrainian territory. A key customer is Slovnaft's refinery in Bratislava, which is technologically adapted primarily to the processing of Urals crude. The supply disruption therefore complicates not only the logistics but also the economics of fuel production.
The transit problems are linked to the wider geopolitical context of the war in Ukraine and the EU's sanctions policy towards Russia. Although the EU is gradually restricting Russian oil imports, Slovakia, along with Hungary, has been granted an exemption precisely because of its infrastructure dependence on the Druzhba pipeline. Any interruption of the flow thus has an immediate impact on the regional fuel market.
At the same time, Prime Minister Fico pointed out that Bratislava is conducting intensive negotiations with the Ukrainian side and European institutions to ensure the predictability of supplies. He said the Slovak government is also considering alternative supply scenarios, such as increasing imports via the Croatian Adria pipeline, but this does not have sufficient capacity to fully replace current volumes.
Energy analysts warn that repeated delays could increase fuel prices in Central Europe if the outage lasts longer. In the short term, Slovakia is drawing on strategic reserves, but these are only a temporary solution.
gnews.cz - GH
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