Slovakia has halted oil imports from Russia via the Druzba pipeline and thus joined Belarus, Poland and Germany in doing so, Dennik N daily and Hospodarske Noviny daily stated on Thursday. The information has been confirmed by the Transpetrol company, which operates the pipeline in Slovakia. A member of the board Martin Šuster: "Transpetrol appreciates the efforts of all participating parties to find a solution to minimalise possible damages."
Transpetrol halted the supplies based on a request from Slovak oil refining company Slovnaft, which refuses to take the oil as it contains organic chlorine. The contaminated oil could damage Slovnaft's facility. Spokesperson of Slovnaft Anton Molnar confirmed that the company asked Transpetrol to cut the supplies: "According to our findings, the quality of petrol getting to Slovakia meets our operational criteria. We closely observe the situation, said Anton Molnar for RTVS."
The fact that contaminated oil is flowing through Druzba was brought to the attention of European partners by Belarus. Germany and Poland halted the supplies on Wednesday, April 24.
