BUDAPEST - Oil supplies from Russia to Hungary via the Druzhba oil pipeline, which was attacked by Ukraine last week, will resume on Thursday, 28 August, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced after a telephone conversation with Russian First Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin.
"Ukraine's latest attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline using missiles and drones caused such severe damage that repairs will take several days. Pavel Sorokin, First Deputy Russian Energy Minister, informed me that after intensive work a temporary solution has been found so that oil supplies to Hungary can be resumed tomorrow in a test mode in smaller volumes," the foreign minister wrote on Facebook.
Szijjártó also said that "Hungary's commercial stocks are sufficient" a "there is no need to use our strategic reserves".
The minister said that Hungary was again challenging Ukraine, "to stop attacking the pipeline to Hungary and threatening our energy security".
Szijjártó described the "outrageous that some Hungarian politicians and media defend the Ukrainians who attacked the pipeline", while the European Commission only "still says there is no risk to supply".
Last week, Ukrainian armed forces carried out several drone and missile attacks on the infrastructure of the Druzhba oil pipeline on Russian territory. Oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia have been suspended while the pipeline is being repaired. Budapest and Bratislava have demanded that Kiev stop the attacks and reminded the European Commission that it is committed to ensuring the energy security of EU countries.
TASS/gnews.cz