Zelenskyy: Druzhba pipeline could be ready in six weeks

At a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Druzhba oil pipeline could be technically ready to resume operations in about six weeks.

Serhiy Koretskyi, head of the state energy company Naftogaz, stated that the pipeline’s main pumping station had been hit in a Russian strike. Druzhba is one of the key routes for oil transport in the region.

Since 27 January, oil has not been flowing through Druzhba to Slovakia or Hungary. Ukraine says the pipeline is inoperable. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán argue that it remains operational and that Kyiv is delaying its restart for political reasons.

(reuters, lud)