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Why did Druzhba oil flows to Europe halt?
Summary
A look back at the pipeline suspension reported around 10 August 2022, alongside a Russian decree on foreign asset sales.
What happened to Russian oil moving through the Druzhba pipeline on 10 August 2022? The question followed a report from the previous day, 9 August 2022, when Russia's Transneft said Ukraine had suspended flows to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
According to Transneft, the suspension came after it was unable to pay transit fees to Ukraine's pipeline operator, UkrTransNafta. The company's account was that the payment problem, not a technical fault, lay behind the halt.
The Czech Republic's pipeline company said it expected supplies through the pipeline to restart within several days. That gave the three affected countries a short-term outlook, even as the interruption underlined how exposed the route was to the wider economic fallout of the war.
A separate Russian restriction
A few days earlier, on 5 August 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree banning investors from "unfriendly countries" from selling their assets in Russian banks, strategic entities, and energy and commodity projects until 31 December.
The two developments were distinct, but both showed how the economic consequences of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine were reaching energy flows and investment rules in the first days of August.
