Hungary to block loan for Ukraine, sanctions until druzhba restarts, minister says
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 16, 2026
1 min readLast updated: March 16, 2026
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 16, 2026
1 min readLast updated: March 16, 2026
Hungary’s foreign minister reiterated on March 16 that Hungary will continue blocking a €90 billion EU loan and new sanctions on Russia as long as oil flows via the Druzhba pipeline remain suspended, deepening a weeks‑long energy and political standoff with Kyiv.
BUDAPEST, March 16 (Reuters) - Hungary will continue blocking a 90-billion-euro ($103 billion) loan for Ukraine and new sanctions on Russia as long as oil flows via the Druzhba pipeline remain suspended, Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday in Brussels.
Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia have been suspended since late January. Kyiv says a Russian strike hit Druzhba pipeline equipment in western Ukraine, while Slovakia and Hungary say Ukraine is to blame for the prolonged outage.
($1 = 0.8737 euros)
(Reporting by Anita Komuves)
Hungary is blocking the 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine due to the suspension of oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline.
The suspension is attributed to a Russian strike hitting pipeline equipment in western Ukraine, though Hungary and Slovakia blame Ukraine for the outage.
Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia have been suspended since late January.
Hungary will continue to block new EU sanctions on Russia as long as the Druzhba pipeline remains non-operational.
The statement was reported by Anita Komuves in Brussels.
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