Druzhba Pipeline: EU Experts Assess Damage, Ukraine Seeks Funding Unlock

European Commission experts arrived in Kyiv on March 18th, remaining in the capital awaiting permission to inspect a damaged section of the Druzhba oil pipeline, according to a source with Ukraine’s Suspilne public broadcaster. The inspection aims to assess the extent of the damage, the timeline for repairs and associated costs.

The stalled pipeline has become a central point of contention as Hungary threatens to block a proposed €90 billion EU aid package for Ukraine. Budapest is demanding that Kyiv restore Russian crude oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline, which was halted in late January following an incident Ukraine attributes to a Russian drone strike.

Hungary maintains that the pipeline sustained no damage and that Ukraine deliberately suspended oil flows for political reasons. Viktor Orbán’s government has dispatched its own fact-finding mission, which Ukrainian authorities dismissed as “tourists” and denied access to the site, according to reports.

On March 17th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to accept assistance from the European Union in restoring the Druzhba pipeline’s functionality. The forthcoming EU inspection, according to the Suspilne source, is intended to “appease” Orbán and facilitate the unblocking of the €90 billion aid package.

Hungary reiterated its opposition to the aid package at an EU summit on March 19th, linking its approval to the resumption of oil transit. The pipeline disruption has impacted both Hungary and Slovakia, which also relied on Russian oil delivered via Druzhba.

The European Commission initially proposed sending a fact-finding mission to the Druzhba pipeline in an attempt to resolve the dispute between Kyiv and Budapest and enable the approval of the substantial EU financial package for Ukraine, as stated by Commission spokesperson Ana-Kaisa Itkonen, according to reports from Tanjug news agency.

As of today, the EU experts remain in Kyiv, awaiting Ukrainian authorization to access the damaged section of the pipeline. The status of that authorization remains unclear.