Payment for Russian oil to Czechia arrives

The payment for delivery of Russian oil to Czechia via the Druzhba pipeline, which passes through Ukraine, has now arrived in the recipient's bank account, the Czech News Agency reports, citing the Russian oil pipeline operator Transneft and Reuters news agency. Deliveries via the pipeline were halted by Ukraine on August 4, because the transit payment from Russia for that month had not been received, although it had been sent. Sanctions against Russia meant that the payment could not be processed, but now it has been unblocked by Dutch bank ING. Ukraine has now confirmed that it has received the money, so oil deliveries to Czechia could resume as early as Friday evening.