Supplies via the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia are planned to resume on February 25.
Ukraine has again informed Transpetrol, the operator of the Slovak section of the pipeline, about the postponement, the Ministry of Economy announced, SME.sk reported.
The ministry noted that supplies to the domestic market are not at risk, as the government has set aside some reserves in case of oil shortages as part of the emergency situation in the oil industry.
“The Ukrainian operator did not provide further details on the reasons for these changes,“ the ministry said.
The ministry stressed that it is constantly monitoring the situation and is in close contact with “Transpetrol“ to ensure uninterrupted supplies and minimize risks to the country's energy security.
Last week, the Ministry of Economy announced the postponement of supplies from Kiev until February 24; they were originally scheduled to resume on the 20th.
On February 23, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced a suspension of electricity supplies to Ukraine in response to the suspension of Russian oil transit through the “Družba“ pipeline. According to Fico, he wanted to talk by phone with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky about the resumption of oil supplies, but received a message stating that Zelensky was “ready to talk only after February 25“.
In mid-February, the Slovak Ministry of Economy announced that the transit of Russian oil through the “Družba“ pipeline had been suspended due to damage on Ukrainian territory.
Russian oil has also not been delivered to Hungary via this pipeline since January 27. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Ukraine refuses to resume oil transit via the “Družba“ pipeline for political reasons.