An update on the Druzhba oil pipeline

HUNGARY - In Brief 23 Aug 2025 by Istvan Racz

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During the night of August 22, the Unecha pumping station in the Bryansk region of Russia was hit by Ukrainian UAV drones, causing the whole station to go up in flames, as everyone can check by seeing the video published by the Ukrainian military. This was the fourth attack against the Druzhba oil pipeline within a short period of time. On August 6 and 13, the same station was hit by drones, whereas on August 18, a strike was carried out against the Nikolskoye station of the same pipeline, much further to the East, in the Tambov region of Russia. These strikes are important negatives for Hungary, for the Druzhba pipeline is the main route through which Hungary has imported oil recently. In addition, Slovakia has been importing oil also from this direction mainly. This is also a concern for Hungary to a great extent, as Slovnaft, the Slovak national oil company is owned by Hungary's MOL group. So Hungary uses 7.2m tons of crude oil annually, of which 5.8m tons are imported, mainly (up to 3.7m tons) through Druzhba, and to a lesser extent through the Janaf pipeline, coming up to Hungary through Croatia, from the Adriatic. Hungary also has some domestic oil production as well. Slovakia consumes 4.4m tons of crude oil annually, having only a limited amount of domestic production. So, Hungary and Slovakia together use 11.6m tons of cruse oil pa., of which they produce 1.9m tons, and they have two refineries, with a total capacity of 14m tons pa. Reacting to the most recent attacks on Druzhba, Hungary's foreign minister Mr. Szijjártó protested, saying that this was just another attempt to pull Hungary into the war, that 'Brussels' (= the EU) is obliged to act against Ukraine...