Ukrainian ban halts oil supply to Hungary, Slovakia by Russia's Lukoil

Oil deliveries from Russia’s Lukoil to Hungary and Slovakia have been halted due to Ukrainian restrictions, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

Restrictions introduced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month have effectively banned Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, from using Ukraine as a transit hub.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto earlier stated that Lukoil was "not currently delivering to Hungary" because of a "legal situation in Ukraine."

Szijjarto mentioned they are working on a legal solution following his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a UN meeting in New York, as reported by Bloomberg.

On Thursday, Reuters reported that Slovakia’s economy ministry also confirmed that oil deliveries from Lukoil have stopped flowing there. The Central European country had secured deliveries from another supplier and the ministry was discussing the issue with its Ukrainian partners, the report said.

Hungary and Slovakia have equally split around 900,000 metric tons of Russian oil every month, according to industry sources cited by Reuters. Overall, Russia exported around 1.1 million metric tons (250,000 barrels per day) via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline that runs through Ukraine.

Lukoil and Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz did not comment on the halted supplies.

News.Az