Kiev and Bratislava discuss possible oil shipments to Slovakia via Odessa-Brody pipeline

MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax) - Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy Yulia Sviridenko and Slovak Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction, Sustainability and Use of Eurofunds Peter Kmec discussed the possibility of supplying oil to Slovakia through the Odessa-Brody pipeline.

"We discussed the situation at the border crossings, bilateral trade, industrial cooperation, and energy. We are encouraged by the ongoing project to supply oil through Ukraine to Slovakia through a port terminal and a pipeline from Odessa," Ukrainian media reported, citing a social media post from Sviridenko.

Ukraine is also interested in providing Slovakia with services for storing natural gas in its underground storage facilities (UGS), she said.

During the visit of the Ukrainian delegation, CEO of Ukrtransnafta Vladimir Tsependa met with a representative of the operator of the Slovak section of the Druzhba oil pipeline, Transpetrol's Chairman of the Board, Martin Ruzhinsky.

The parties summed up the results of their cooperation in 2023 and discussed plans for organizing transport operations for the next year, Ukrtransnafta said.

"The results of the year indicate well-coordinated interaction with our European partners. We want to maintain this result going forward, so we discussed all issues regarding oil transportation in 2024, in particular, pumping modes through the Druzhba oil pipeline," Tsependa said.

The Odessa-Brody oil pipeline, 674 km long and with a capacity of 9 million tonnes per year, runs from the Yuzhny sea oil terminal, and in the environs of Brody (Lvov region), connects with the Druzhba main oil pipeline system.

The oil pipeline began operating in 2001. In 2020-2021, it was used to supply oil to the Mozyr Oil Refinery in Belarus, but now these shipments have stopped.