BRATISLAVA, July 18 Minister of Economy of Slovakia Denisa Sakova said that she discussed with the Ambassador of Ukraine Miroslav Kastran the restrictions that were introduced by Kiev regarding the transit of part of the Russian oil, and expressed hope that the issue would be resolved.
“Today I spoke with the Ukrainian Ambassador to Slovakia, Mr. Miroslav Kastran, about the current situation with the restriction of some oil supplies to Slovakia due to the Ukrainian sanctions list,” Sakova wrote on her page on the social network Facebook*.
She expressed hope that that this issue will be resolved.
Earlier, the Ministry of Economy of Slovakia confirmed that the republic had stopped receiving oil from Lukoil due to Ukraine stopping its transit through its territory. The department noted that the Lukoil company was included in the sanctions list in Ukraine. The ministry stated that Slovnaft is provided with supplies of Russian oil from another supplier, but the department is discussing the current situation with the Ukrainian side.
Earlier this week, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary Peter Szijjártó.
Western sanctions in December 2022 banned oil supplies from Russia by sea to the European Union. However, exceptions were made for supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, as several landlocked countries would have difficulty finding alternative suppliers. However, the transportation of Russian oil to Poland via Druzhba was stopped at the end of February 2023. Russian oil has not been pumped through the pipeline to Germany since the beginning of 2023.
The Druzhba oil pipeline originates in Almetyevsk, passes through Bryansk and then branches into two sections: the northern (through the territory of Belarus in the direction of Poland and Germany) and southern (through the territory of Ukraine in the direction of Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic).
* The activities of Meta (social networks Facebook and Instagram) are prohibited in Russia as extremist.