Russian oil flowed through the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline on Wednesday after a halt lasting months, allowing Hungary to lift its veto on a €90 billion euro (US$105.79 billion) EU loan urgently needed by Kyiv, reports Reuters.
The Druzhba pipeline has become one of the most politically charged pieces of infrastructure in Europe since a Russian drone strike damaged the pipeline in western Ukraine and stopped Russian oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia.
Hungarian oil group MOL said on Wednesday that Ukraine had informed it that deliveries of Russian crude had resumed through the pipeline.
"MOL expects the first crude oil shipments following the restart of the Ukrainian section of ?the pipeline system to arrive in Hungary and Slovakia by tomorrow at the latest," it said in a statement.
Pumping began at 0935 GMT, an industry source said.
Shortly afterwards, EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels approved the loan. The European Union's 27 member states are expected to formally sign off on it by Thursday afternoon.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the EU's decision was "the right signal under the current circumstances". Writing on X, Zelenskiy said that incentives for Russia to end its war in Ukraine "can arise only when both support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia are sufficient".
The EU had agreed in principle to the loan last year to maintain Ukraine's liquidity through 2026 ?and 2027 but Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the Slovak government had blocked it, accusing Ukraine of delaying repairs to the pipeline, which Kyiv denied.
Both Hungary and Slovakia are heavily dependent on Russian oil and Orban has consistently shown support for Russia. Separately, Germany confirmed that no Kazakh crude would reach its PCK Schwedt refinery – one of ?the country's largest – from May, after industry sources said on Tuesday that Russia was set to stop Kazakhstan's oil exports via the Druzhba pipeline.
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World Pipelines’ April 2026 issue
The April 2026 issue of World Pipelines centres on how pipeline infrastructure is evolving to support the energy transition while maintaining integrity and reliability. A key theme is the uncertain trajectory of hydrogen, with the keynote questioning whether the hydrogen economy can realistically deliver without coordinated development of production, transport, and demand. Alongside this, the issue explores the often-overlooked role of pipeline networks as critical, ‘invisible’ infrastructure underpinning regions like Texas, while also addressing practical challenges such as distortion management, crack detection, and extending pipeline lifespan through improved inspection and data-driven approaches. Offshore topics include long-term flexible pipe integrity and the repurposing of pipelines for new uses like hydrogen, while broader industry progress is reflected in IPLOCA’s 60 year milestone and the rapid growth of HDD technologies to meet increasing global project demand.