15:21 31 August 2024
Ukraine to Uphold Oil Transit Contracts to Europe, Official Confirms
Ukraine will continue to meet its obligations to transit Russian oil to Europe, a presidential aide said on Friday after suggesting it could halt supplies via the Druzhba pipeline next year.
Comments by Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak, reported by local media on Friday, had suggested flows of Russian oil may stop from January, but he later said Ukraine supported EU efforts to diversify its oil supply and would not break contracts running to 2029.
“Ukraine has fulfilled and will fulfill its contractual obligations in full until the scheduled completion date... because it concerns our bilateral relations with European countries,” Podolyak said.
The Druzhba pipeline carries oil from Russia to Belarus where it branches into its northern leg to Poland and Germany and a southern part to Ukraine, the latter route serving Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
(TVP)
