Slovakia has started receiving oil through the Druzhba pipeline early on Thursday, the Slovak Ministry of Economy announced, according to Reuters.
- The Ministry of Economy announced that the receipt of oil to Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline resumed today at 02:00 (00:00 GMT), according to a statement.
There is no word yet on whether the oil has also reached Hungary. According to Hungarian oil company MOL, this is expected to happen during Thursday. Since January, when Ukraine said the pipeline was hit by a Russian drone attack, it has been closed.
The Druzhba pipeline has been the subject of much attention in recent weeks. It has been at the center of a dispute between Ukraine and Hungary, which has blocked a 90 billion euro EU loan to Ukraine.
However, on Wednesday, EU member states were able to give preliminary approval to the loan after several reports from both the Ukrainian president, Slovakia's economy minister and the Hungarian oil company MOL that the oil would soon flow again. Formally, the loan will not be approved until Thursday afternoon via a written procedure.
EU diplomats told AFP on Wednesday that Hungary has been given 24 hours to finally approve the decision. Cyprus, which holds the EU presidency, also told Reuters that Hungary was no longer blocking the loan.
Viktor Orbán - who lost power in Hungarian parliamentary elections earlier this month - has previously accused Ukraine of blocking the resumption of Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline for political reasons.
The pipeline runs from Russia through Belarus and Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia.
The Ukrainian government has rejected the accusations and insisted that the pipeline should be repaired.
/ritzau/
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