Russia halts oil exports via southern branch of Druzhba pipeline leading to Czechia

Russia’s state pipeline operator Transneft said it had stopped shipments through the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline flowing through Ukraine to Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary last week, the Interfax news agency wrote on Tuesday.

According to Transneft, the payment it had sent to its Ukrainian counterpart Ukrtransnafta had been refused due to complications with EU sanctions. The Ukrainian company had subsequently stopped the shipments.

The northern leg of the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Belarus to Poland and Germany, was unaffected.