Czechia suggests solution to Slovakia amid oil crisis
Illustrative photo: Czechia prepares reverse flow of the Druzhba oil pipeline (Getty Images)
Czechia is ready to allocate up to 1 billion crowns for the technical upgrade of the Druzhba oil pipeline in order to restore fuel supplies to Slovakia in reverse mode, states Czech Minister of Industry Karel Havlíček, reports Reuters.
Investments and technical solutions
According to the outlet, the Czech government has offered Slovakia an alternative route for oil supplies amid the suspension of transit through Ukraine. Prague plans to invest in reversing the Czech section of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
"We offered Slovakia the possibility of using the reverse flow of the Druzhba. In other words, we are ready to start investing in technical measures so that oil can be supplied from the Czech Republic to Slovakia," Karel Havlíček said after a meeting with Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Saková.
According to the minister, the initial investments will amount to up to 1 billion Czech crowns (about $47 million).
Reverse capacity
At the first stage, in emergency mode, Slovakia will be able to receive tens of thousands of tonnes of oil per month. In the longer term, within the next 2–3 years, the annual capacity of the route could be increased to 2–3 million tonnes.
Slovakia and Hungary have been without Russian oil since the end of January 2026 due to repair work on the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline, which was damaged during Russian attacks.
Situation around the Druzhba oil pipeline
Oil transit through the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba oil pipeline stopped at the end of January due to infrastructure damage caused by Russian attacks. The European Commission has already said it is ready to help Ukraine repair the pipeline in order to restore supplies to the EU.
At the same time, diplomatic sources have announced a possible visit by a special European Union mission to Druzhba facilities to assess the damage.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine later confirmed the information, giving a clear response regarding the timeline and purpose of the work of international experts.
In addition, amid energy disputes, a financial crisis within the bloc has intensified. Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blocked the allocation of a critical €90 billion loan for Ukraine, which has been linked to Budapest’s position on the oil issue.
