Russian state-owned Transneft, which monopolizes the pipeline system that transports crude oil to Russia, says it has received requests from Germany and Poland to supply them with oil next year, Reuters reports.

Russian oilPhoto: Dmytro Melnikov/Alami/Alami/Profimedia

This was announced by the head of the company, Mykola Tokarev, on the air of the “Russia-24” TV channel.

“They announced that from January 1 they will no longer take oil from Russia. And now we received requests from Polish consumers: give 3 million tons next year, and 360 thousand tons for December, and Germany has already submitted an application for the first quarter. [al lui 2023]”, he said, the TASS agency quotes.

The European Union reached an agreement on an embargo on Russian oil from early June, but gave Hungary a waiver because of its dependence on energy imports from Russia.

In early December, member states also agreed to cap the maximum price that can be paid for oil imported from Russia, a measure Hungary also got a waiver to avoid blocking its veto.

Immediately after the deal was announced, Moscow announced that it would not agree to price caps on the oil it exports to the EU and would find alternative buyers.

Disputes between the EU and Russia regarding oil imports

Russia has repeatedly stated that it will not supply oil to countries that impose restrictions, this position was confirmed on December 3 by Mykhailo Ulyanov, its ambassador to international organizations in Vienna.

“From this year, Europe will live without Russian oil,” he said then.

Tokarev’s comments on Tuesday contradicted earlier reports that Poland wanted out of a contract to buy Russian oil, and sources familiar with the discussions said Warsaw was trying to get German support for sanctions on a segment of the Druzhba pipeline that runs through two countries.

The Polish government would like this to allow unilateral termination of the contract signed with Moscow without compensation.

Druzhba Oil Pipeline also supplies oil to Hungary.

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