Ukraine suspends oil pumping through Druzhba to Hungary

MOSCOW/BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, Nov 16 (PRIME) -- Ukraine has notified Russian oil pipeline company Transneft that it suspended oil transportation via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary, spokesman for the CEO Igor Dyomin said late on Tuesday.

"The Ukrainian side has informed us that they had stopped pumping towards Fenyeslitke (Hungary) due to a pressure drop," Dyomin said.

Zoltan Kovacs, spokesman for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said that in response to the oil transportation suspension and a missile strike on the territory of Poland, Orban organized a meeting of the security council. Newswire MTI reported that Hungary's oil and gas company MOL was considering relaunching the pipeline. According to channel M1, Hungary has sufficient oil reserves for 90 days.

The Czech Republic, also receiving Russian oil through the southern line of Druzhba, has seen no issues with shipments, spokeswoman for operator MERO Barbora Putzova said.

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