Russia claims that its oil supply to three European countries via Ukraine has been halted due to transit payment issues caused by Western sanctions.
Transneft, the Russian state pipeline operator, announced on Tuesday that the Ukrainian side has halted oil transport through the southern leg of the Druzhba pipeline, which connects Ukraine to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.
Payment for oil transit via the pipeline, according to the company, cannot be processed due to financial sanctions aimed at Moscow.
“On August 4, Russian oil delivery via Ukrainian territory was halted,” the oil pipeline operator said in a statement on Tuesday.
According to the company, the Ukrainian side halted the oil transport “due to a lack of funds for these services.” A spokesman for a Slovak refinery confirmed that oil transportation via the pipeline has been halted for several days.
“There were technical problems at the bank level in connection with the payment of transit fees from the Russian side,” Anton Molnar said in a statement.
Russia typically supplies nearly 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) via the Druzhba pipeline’s southern branch.
Since Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, the United States and the European Union have imposed unprecedented sanctions against it. Russia has been cut off from international financial institutions as a result of the sanctions.
Meanwhile, Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, and the world’s largest gas exporter has reduced gas pipeline flows to many EU members as well.
Last week, Russia’s energy behemoth Gazprom announced that Western sanctions against Moscow have made it impossible for the company to receive a turbine needed to keep gas flowing to Europe.
Because of the anti-Russia sanctions, Gazprom stated that the delivery of the turbine required to transport gas to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was impossible.
