Kommersant: Ukraine intends to raise oil transit tariff for Eastern Europe

The pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta plans to increase the cost of Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline through Ukraine to 27.2 euros per ton, writes Kommersant, citing sources. According to them, Kyiv will raise the tariff for the second time since the beginning of the year due to the cost of restoring the oil transportation infrastructure.

At the end of last year, Ukrtransnafta informed Russian “Transneft” that “the ongoing destruction of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure” has led to a significant shortage of electricity, an increase in its cost, a shortage of fuel and spare parts. Then the company warned that from January 1 it would increase tariffs for oil transportation to Hungary and Slovakia by 2.1 euros per ton to 13.6 euros. The duty was also increased in April 2022, resulting in an overall year-on-year increase of 51%.

According to Kommersant, Transneft is aware of Ukraine’s plans to change tariffs, but the parameters of the increase and the timing are unknown, Kyiv will have to agree on this issue with Hungary and Slovakia. The publication, citing the Argus agency, also writes that supplies on the southern branch of Druzhba in the second quarter should increase by almost 30% to 321,000 barrels per day. The final decision on increasing the cost of oil transit through Druzhba has not yet been made.

Deliveries of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline to European countries in February 2023 decreased three times by February 2022 and amounted to about 939,300 tons, two Vedomosti sources familiar with the statistics of the Russian Ministry of Energy reported earlier. According to them, the reduction in supplies was due to a drop in exports to Germany, Poland and Slovakia. In 2022, oil exports via the pipeline increased by 7% to 38.4 million tons.

The Druzhba oil pipeline starts in the Samara region, then passes through Bryansk and is divided into two branches on the territory of Belarus. The northern branch runs through Poland to Germany, while the southern branch runs through Ukraine to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Deliveries via Druzhba, unlike maritime exports, were not subject to EU sanctions, although the Polish authorities called for them to be applied to the pipeline as well. In 2022, Warsaw and Berlin announced their desire to stop importing Russian oil through Druzhba from 2023, but both countries eventually applied for pumping.

Deliveries via Druzhba, unlike maritime exports, were not subject to EU sanctions, although the Polish authorities called for them to be applied to the pipeline as well. In 2022, Warsaw and Berlin announced their desire to stop importing Russian oil through Druzhba from 2023, but both countries eventually applied for pumping.