They want to leave only Druzhba to oil

Alexey Gromov, Principal Director on Energy Studies of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Kommersant FM radio station about the possible exclusion of pipeline oil supplies from Russia from the European embargo.

The European Union may accept an embargo on Russian oil, excluding the Druzhba pipeline from it. So politicians are trying to convince Hungary to withdraw its veto on a new package of sanctions, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Aleksey Gromov, Energy Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, believes that such a scenario is quite probable. Through Druzhba, oil can continue to flow to other countries, he notes:

“When we analyzed possible ways to impose an embargo on Russian fuel supplies to the EU countries, we believed that it would be much easier for them to agree on sea supplies than to refuse pipelines.

The indisputable position of Hungary in defending its national interests, in protecting its oil refining has shown that the European Union is simply not ready today to refuse deliveries through the pipeline. And I think that in this situation, not only oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary, but also similar supplies to other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, primarily to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, will fall under the exception.

Therefore, the option of imposing an oil embargo only on sea supplies of Russian oil to the EU countries, unfortunately, is probable for us. As for the distribution shares of oil exports, sea transport accounts for 60-65%, the rest goes through pipelines.”