Hungarian delegation tasked with inspecting Friendship oil pipeline sets off for Kyiv

The Hungarian delegation put together to inspect the condition of the Friendship oil pipeline has left for Kyiv, the Hungarian State News Agency reported based on information provided by the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy.

The head of the delegation, Gábor Czepek spoke live from the Záhony border crossing about the delegation's goal of engaging in meaningful dialogue at the negotiating table – not only with the energy authorities in Kyiv, but also with the ambassadors stationed there and representatives of the European Commission.

The Hungarian government issued a decree on 4 March about setting up an investigative committee, which would go to Ukraine to assess the condition of the Friendship oil pipeline.

The delegation is led by Czepek and includes an oil industry expert, a government official with expertise in international relations, and an energy market analyst. Czepek did not disclose the names of the committee members in his announcement on Wednesday, but it had previously been reported that Mol had also delegated a member.

According to Czepek, the investigative committee has already held talks in Bratislava with Slovak representatives of the energy market and the government's energy department, and have agreed that Slovakia will also join the Hungarian delegation. The committee has also written a letter to the Ukrainian deputy prime minister responsible for energy.

It was at the end of January that Russia carried out a destructive attack on the Ukrainian section of the Friendship oil pipeline. According to Ukraine, the attack caused serious technical damage, and repairs will take a long time. The Hungarian government, however, claims that the problem has already been fixed, and oil deliveries have been suspended due to a political decision by Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán even wrote an open letter to Volodymyr Zelensky, stating that the Hungarian side will not supply diesel to the country due to the suspension of oil deliveries, and will block the release of EU emergency loans. He also threatened to restrict electricity exports from Hungary to Ukraine. Later on Orbán announced the formation of a joint Slovak-Hungarian Friendship Pipeline investigation committee.

Last week, Orbán published satellite images which, according to him, prove that there are no technical obstacles to restarting the pipeline. Zelensky responded by saying that satellite images cannot show underground pipelines, only above-ground storage tanks. The Ukrainian energy minister also said that "the Druzhba oil pipeline is unable to operate due to serious internal damage." In an interview with an Italian newspaper, the Ukrainian president said, “the pipeline has been destroyed, a ceasefire is needed for repairs, and this must be made clear to Putin.”

In early March, Orbán spoke with Vladimir Putin on the phone, and a day later, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó traveled to Moscow to hold talks with the Russian president on the situation surrounding Hungary's crude oil supplies.