Oil transit rates via Ukraine to increase by 18.3% starting on January 1

MOSCOW. Dec 27 (Interfax) - Rates for oil transit via Ukraine will increase by 18.3% starting on January 1, according to data on the Transneft website.

The new rates for pumping via the Druzhba pipeline towards Slovakia and Hungary under the contract with Ukrtransnafta will be 13.6 euros per tonne, compared to 11.5 euros per tonne previously, Transneft said.

The previous norms had been in effect since April 1, 2022, when they were increased by 30%.

Transneft President Nikolai Tokarev said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel that oil shipments in this direction next year are expected to be at this year's level. "The southern branch of Druzhba, which transports oil through Ukraine to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, will retain the same volumes, because exceptions were made for them, and they will consume the volumes that they consumed - about 12 million tonnes," he said.