REUTERS
The transit is to resume on May 20.
State-owned company Ukrtransnafta, the operator of Ukraine's crude oil transport system, has suspended transit shipments of Russian crude oil to the European Union due to the need for the European side to carry out preparations for taking contaminated Russian oil into its reservoirs.
"As the European side needs additional time for preparatory work, Ukrtransnafta suspended transit shipments on May 17. Consequently, according to the schedule, transit of Russian oil across Ukrainian territory will resume on May 20," the operator said.
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In accordance with the planned activities, European oil transportation companies will, until May 20, conduct preparatory measures for the resumption of transit related to the intake of oil with a high content of organochlorine in their own tank farms.
Ukrtransnafta said that a notification from the Hungarian operators asking for the additional time came on May 16, the Slovak side notified on May 17.
"Ukrtransnafta is resuming crude oil transit to the EU in accordance with the schedule agreed by all participants of the Druzhba pipeline," it said.
As reported by UNIAN, Belarus-based oil transport company Gomeltransneft Druzhba on May 17 suspended the transit of oil to Ukraine due to the lack of tanks on the Ukrainian territory for pumping contaminated oil. The resumption of transit supplies is scheduled in the early hours of May 20.
Oil transit via Ukraine was temporarily halted on April 25 after European consumers had refused to accept Russian oil with a high content of the mass fraction of organic chlorides. Early in May, Ukrtransnafta's losses from the halt were estimated at UAH 29.2 million, or US$1.11 million.