August 15, 2022 [ Daily News Hungary] – MOL has paid the transit fee to the Ukrainians instead of the Russians, so Russian oil deliveries along the southern branch of the Friendship pipeline to Hungary could resume within days, MOL reported minutes ago.

MOL has held talks with the Ukrainian and Russian sides on the restart of the Friendship pipeline and transferred the transit fee for the use of the Ukrainian section, the company told MTI on Wednesday.

According to the statement, by taking over the fee obligation, MOL provided a quick solution to the problem: according to the Ukrainians’ promise, the oil transport, which was halted a few days ago due to technical difficulties on the banking side, can be resumed within a few days. According to the information available, the rapid action was justified by the supply situation: oil is transported to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic via the southern section of the Friendship pipeline, and although MOL has enough of its own reserves in Hungary to last for several weeks, as a large regional company, it also has a responsibility for the security of supply in the surrounding countries, writes portfolio.hu.

In parallel with MOL’s announcement, its Slovak subsidiary Slovnaft also released a statement, which, Reuters reported, said that Slovnaft has already made the payment to the (Ukrainian transit) company’s account. On this basis, Slovnaft expects oil deliveries to resume in the coming days. The Russian side has also agreed to this solution.

Pro Trial: Access 11,340 Tank Terminal and Production Facilities

11,340 tank storage and production facilities as per the date of this article. Click on the button and register to get instant access to actionable tank storage industry data