Russian oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia halted after Ukrainian attack

BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Russian crude oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline were halted on Monday, officials in Hungary and Slovakia said, with Budapest blaming a Ukrainian attack on a transformer station.

Unlike most other EU countries, Hungary has kept up its reliance on Russian energy since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. It imports most of its crude via the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Belarus and Ukraine to Hungary and also Slovakia.

Szijjarto wrote on Facebook that he had talked to Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin who told him that experts were working to restore the transformer station, but it was unclear when deliveries would resume.

"This latest strike against our energy security is outrageous and unacceptable," Szijjarto wrote. He did not say when or where the attack took place.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha neither confirmed nor denied the account of the attack, but wrote on X that Hungary "can now send complaints" to Moscow, not Kyiv.

"It is Russia, not Ukraine, who began this war and refuses to end it. Hungary has been told for years that Moscow is an unreliable partner. Despite this, Hungary has made every effort to maintain its reliance on Russia," Sybiha wrote.

Slovak pipeline operator Transpetrol confirmed that the supply of oil to Slovakia through the Druzhba pipeline had stopped.

"Our company does not know more information about the reason for the suspension, which is outside the territory of the Slovak Republic. Oil transportation through Slovak territory is ensured and carried out in accordance with the pumping plan," the company said.

Ukraine's defence ministry and armed forces, and Hungarian oil company MOL, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Last year Szijjarto said the Druzhba pipeline would remain Hungary's primary route for crude oil imports.

Monday's suspension of oil deliveries comes after a temporary halt last week when Ukraine's military said on August 13 that its drones had hit the Uniecha oil pumping station in Russia's Bryansk region.

(Reporting by Anita Komuves; Additional reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Vera Dvorakova in Gdansk; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Jan Harvey)