The European Union allowed Russia to make payments for the transit of oil through Ukraine

The European Union allowed an authorized Russian bank to make payments for the transit of oil through Ukraine through the Druzhba pipeline until the end of 2022, Igor Demin, adviser to the President of Transneft, told RIA Novosti on August 23.

“After the situation with non-payments, the regulator in Brussels informed our bank, through which we make mandatory transportation payments, that they give us the go-ahead to make all payments until the end of the year,” a Transneft representative said.

Demin refused additional comments to Vedomosti. The message does not specify which bank in question, but earlier payments went through Gazprombank (GPB).

Problems with paying for the transit of oil through Ukraine arose in early August against the backdrop of EU sanctions due to NWO. On August 4, Ukrtransnafta stopped transit along the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline towards Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, because the Russian side was unable to pay for pumping. Transneft then explained that the payment sent through GPB was returned to the company’s account.

On August 10, the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL announced that it itself paid for the transit of oil through Ukraine. The Slovak Slovnaft also took over the payment. On the same day “Transneft“announced the resumption of pumping along the southern branch of” Friendship “in the direction of Slovakia and Hungary. As a result, Slovakia received the first liters of Russian oil delivered through this pipeline on August 10, and the Czech Republic on August 12.

The northern branch of the Druzhba pipeline delivers oil to Poland, Germany and the Baltic countries, and the southern branch to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. According to Transneft, oil exports to non-CIS countries via Druzhba in 2021 amounted to 35.9 million tons. In February, the company announced that it plans to increase pumping to 45.5 million tons per year.

In early June, the EU adopted the sixth package of anti-Russian sanctions, which included an embargo on offshore oil supplies from the Russian Federation. From December 2022, it is planned to ban the supply of Russian oil, and from February also oil products. A temporary exception is provided for EU countries that receive Russian oil through pipelines. Bulgaria and Croatia, which receive oil by sea, will also receive a temporary exception from the embargo.