Transneft, the monopoly of oil pipelines in Russia, announced on Monday that it has started transporting oil from Kazakhstan to Germany via Poland via the Druzhba pipeline, at the same time cutting off supplies of Russian oil to Poland, Reuters reported, citing Russian news agencies.

Russian oil supplied by the Druzhba oil pipeline provides 65% of Hungary’s oil needsPhoto: ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP / Profimedia

Although the European Union has stopped buying Russian crude by sea since December 5 as part of sanctions imposed on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine, some of the bloc’s landlocked countries continue to receive Russian oil. oil through pipelines.

Earlier, the Kazakh company KazTransOil reported that on Monday it delivered 20,000 tons of oil to Germany through the Russian Druzhba oil pipeline.

Kazakhstan is largely dependent on neighboring Russia for energy exports and is not even subject to Western sanctions imposed on Russia.

The ITAR-TASS news agency quoted a Transneft representative as saying that the documentation was not completed in order to be able to deliver oil to Poland in the second half of February, and as a result, Transneft’s Polish customers could not. no more getting oil.

“Oil was supposed to be pumped into Polish refineries in the second half of February. However, the order submission with confirmed resources and transit payment was not processed. In addition, the changes made to the delivery schedule excluded deliveries to Polish customers,” said the representative of Transneft.

Supplies of Russian oil via the Druzhba oil pipeline are excluded from sanctions

At the end of last week, the Polish oil refining company PKN Orlen said that the supply of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline to Poland had been stopped, adding that it would cover the shortfall from other sources.

However, deliveries of Russian oil to Slovakia and the Czech Republic through the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline continue as usual, according to pipeline operators.

The Druzhba pipeline starts in Russia and branches off in Belarus into two other pipelines, one to Poland and the other to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Russian oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline are exempt from the embargo the EU imposed on Russia after the war against Ukraine began, as landlocked Central European countries have limited access to oil by sea. (Source Agerpres)

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