BUDAPEST: Russian oil flowed through the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline on Wednesday after a halt lasting months, officials said, allowing Hungary to lift its veto on a 90 billion euro ($105.79 billion) EU loan urgently needed by Kyiv. The Druzhba pipeline has become one of the most politically charged pieces of infrastructure in Europe since a Russian drone strike damaged the pipeline in western Ukraine and stopped Russian oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia.
Hungarian oil group MOL said on Wednesday that Ukraine had informed it that deliveries of Russian crude had resumed through the pipeline. “MOL expects the first crude oil shipments following the restart of the Ukrainian section of the pipeline system to arrive in Hungary and Slovakia by tomorrow at the latest,” it said in a statement.
EU loan
Pumping began at 0935 GMT. Shortly afterwards, EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels approved the loan. The European Union’s 27 member states are expected to formally sign off on it by Thursday afternoon. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the EU’s decision was “the right signal under the current circumstances”. Writing on X, Zelenskiy said that incentives for Russia to end its war in Ukraine “can arise only when both support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia are sufficient”.
The EU had agreed in principle to the loan last year to maintain Ukraine’s liquidity through 2026 and 2027 but Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the Slovak government had blocked it, accusing Ukraine of delaying repairs to the pipeline, which Kyiv denied. Both Hungary and Slovakia are heavily dependent on Russian oil and Orban has consistently shown support for Russia.
Sanctions approved
The row with Hungary has held up EU support for Ukraine at a time when the United States has largely cut Kyiv off and eased sanctions on Russian oil amid the Iran war.
Orban’s loss in elections after 16 years in power had fuelled hopes the funds would be unlocked — and the EU could move past the frequent blockages experienced during his tenure. But EU officials had believed they might have to wait until his pro-EU successor Peter Magyar took office in May to get it approved.
EU countries also gave the preliminary go-ahead to a fresh round of sanctions on Russia that had been stalled by both Hungary and Slovakia over the pipeline row.
The new round of economic punishment for Moscow — the 20th from the EU since the war started in 2022 -- includes measures on Russia’s energy, banking and trade sectors.
Change of govt in Hungary
Ukraine’s prospects of receiving the loan had already improved when Orban lost Hungary’s parliamentary election on April 12. The leader of the winning party, Peter Magyar, said he would no longer block the EU funds for Kyiv, though he is not expected to take power until next month.
The capacity of Druzhba, which in Russian means friendship, is 1.2 million to 1.4 million barrels of oil a day, with the possibility to increase to up to 2 million barrels a day. However, flows fell to a small fraction of that as a result of Western sanctions as well as repeated disruptions from drone attacks.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2026