Czech minister of industry offers Slovakia oil supplies via Druzhba pipeline

Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček has offered to supply Slovakia with oil via the Druzhba pipeline reverse flow. The Czech side could also enhance the transportation capacities from Germany, Slovak state broadcaster STVR reported, referring to Havlíček.

Slovakia has been facing another disruption of eastern oil supplies via the Russian Druzhba since the end of January, following Russia’s military operations in the east of Ukraine, but reports of the disruption began appearing only since last week.

“We are ready to deliver some crisis amount in the present condition,” Havlíček was quoted as saying by Czech Television (CT), noting that further technical adjustments to the pipeline flow “could last several months”.

Investments into two compression stations in Germany need to be made in order to enhance the gas transporting capacity from Germany to Czechia, which could be down gradually by the end of this year and in 2028, STVR noted. 

Havlíček, who made the comments following his meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Bratislava on February 17, added that “we are looking into how much we would be able to deliver through the existing technical equipment”. The Czech side is ready to make the necessary steps immediately, he said.

Last April, Czechia ended decades-long dependence on Russian crude after the CZK1.6bn (€64mn) TAL-Plus enhancement project was declared fully operational and the first increased TAL-Plus oil shipments arrived. The TAL and IKL pipelines connect the country to the Italian port of Trieste via Germany and Austria.

As bne IntelliNews reported earlier, Slovak state operator of material reserves, SŠHR, said it is ready to open oil reserves if needed in response to the request made by the country’s key oil refinery, the Hungarian MOL owned Slovnaft.

Slovnaft remains dependent on Russian oil flow, which it uses for its oil products, which includes export to Czechia, and the country has been exempted from the EU ban on Russian oil imports

SŠHR also reiterated that “fuel supplies for citizens or for the economy are not threatened in any way,” in a statement released after the meeting of the national NESO Commission for oil security on February 16.

Slovakia has enough oil reserves for approximately 90 days, according to SŠHR and the country’s Ministry of Economy. Both Hungary and Slovakia are also in talks with Croatia to enhance oil flow via the Adria pipeline.

Following the media reports of the disruption, Fico, however, joined Budapest in criticising Ukraine, suggesting that Druzhba damages should have been repaired already.

Fico stated, following his talks with US chief diplomat Marco Rubio, who visited Bratislava on February 15, that he views the latest development concerning the Druzhba disruption as “blackmailing Hungary for its uncompromising stance on Ukraine’s EU membership”.

Previously, Hungary’s rightwing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he will not back Ukraine’s fast track entry into the EU. The two national conservative leaders, Fico and Orbán, also face EU probes over the rule of law of backsliding in Hungary and Slovakia under their governments.