Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of political maneuvering after a temporary suspension of oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline, saying the move saddled Slovakia with extra costs and forced the country to tap state reserves.
After a cabinet meeting, Fico said it was not yet possible to determine who was responsible for the interruption, as Ukraine and Russia were blaming each other. The damaged section has been repaired and flows could technically resume, he added, according to Dennik N.
Slovakia is weighing an alternative route via Croatia’s Adria pipeline, but Fico noted it comes with higher transit fees and unproven capacity. He later warned that a definitive halt “because of Zelensky’s actions” could drive up both oil prices and transit charges. “If President Zelensky finally stops the flow of oil across Ukraine’s territory, we will pay more for this commodity, we will pay more in tariff fees, just because President Zelensky is playing some games here,” Fico said.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a Facebook Live broadcast that diesel deliveries to Ukraine have been suspended and will resume only after the country restarts oil shipments via Druzhba toward Hungary.
Meanwhile, the Slovnaft refinery has halted diesel exports to secure Slovakia’s domestic market, Standard reported. The government released up to 250,000 tons of crude from strategic reserves to cover at least one month of operations; Slovnaft provided financial collateral or a bank guarantee equal to the value of the borrowed oil.
Beyond Druzhba, the refinery can take crude via Adria, a route previously used mainly as a backup and covering only a small share of output alongside parent company MOL. Slovnaft estimates it would take 20 to 30 days to ramp Adria to full capacity. The oil loan will run until September, with reserves replenished gradually, the outlet added.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said transit of Russian oil to Eastern Europe through the Ukrainian section of Druzhba stopped on January 27 following a Russian strike that triggered a fire.
After the strike on the Druzhba pipeline in Ukraine’s Lviv region, it took rescuers nearly three days to extinguish the blaze. Volodymyr Kravtsov, head of the regional civil protection department, said the site was extremely difficult to restore.
