Slovakian Prime Minister threatens to stop diesel deliveries to Ukraine

Prague, July 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) Slovakia’s refinery Slovnaft will stop its diesel supplies to Ukraine if the transit of Russian oil to Slovakia via Ukraine is not resumed soon, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said.

Ukraine recently stopped Russian company Lukoil’s oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary after adding the company to its sanctions list in June. The Slovak Ministry of Economy said earlier this month that Lukoil’s oil supplies to Slovakia via Ukraine had already dried up.

In a video message posted on Facebook on Monday, Fico said that “the continued implementation of this senseless sanction” would only harm Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary, Xinhua news agency reported.

“If the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine is not resumed in the short term, Slovnaft, which covers a tenth of Ukraine’s consumption, will stop supplying diesel to Ukraine,” he said.

In a phone conversation on Friday, Fico proposed a technical solution to resolve the dispute with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal. His office said it would require the participation of several countries, including Slovakia.

“On behalf of Slovakia, I repeat that we are ready. I welcome reports confirming that relevant trading companies are already thinking about how to implement this technical solution in the shortest possible time,” he said in Monday’s video message.

Also on Monday, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar said after a meeting with Hungarian Ambassador to Slovakia Csaba Balogh that the two countries had jointly called for “immediate action” from the European Commission regarding the disrupted oil supplies.

Last week, Blanar and his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto filed a similar complaint with the European Commission, claiming that Ukraine’s decision to stop Lukoil’s transit to Slovakia and Hungary violated the provisions of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine.

According to the Slovak minister, the European Commission has requested additional information from the parties concerned. The Commission is postponing the matter, but the people of Slovakia and Hungary cannot wait until there is a shortage of oil and thus of fuel. Then it will be too late, he was quoted as saying by the News Agency of the Slovak Republic.

Source: IANS