FILE - A set of pipes in a gas storage and transit point in Boyarka, just outside Kiev, Ukraine, Jan
(AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov, File)
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Sergei Chuzavkov/Copyright 2013 The AP
Copyright Sergei Chuzavkov/Copyright 2013 The AP
Published on 25/03/2026 - 13:38 GMT+1•Updated
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Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced a gradual halt of gas exports to Ukraine until Kyiv repairs the Druzhba oil pipeline
The dispute is also blocking a €90bn EU aid package for Ukraine.
Hungary will gradually halt gas exports to Ukraine until Kyiv resumes oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline.
The pipeline was damaged in a Russian strike in late January and has not been repaired since.
Both Hungary and Slovakia accuse Ukraine —which has said repairs could take up to six weeks— of using the issue for political gain
Orbán’s government has repeatedly alleged that Ukraine is trying to trigger an energy crisis ahead of Hungary’s April 12 general election in an effort to undermine his administration.
He argued in the video that Hungary also needed to build up its own natural gas reserves following Ukrainian attacks on the Russia-based TurkStream pipeline, which carries Russian natural gas via Turkey to Hungary.
The dispute over the Druzhba pipeline has stalled the disbursement of the EU's €90bn aid package to Ukraine, which Hungary is blocking.
The European Commission has offered technical and financial assistance to help Ukraine assess and repair the damage, though it has yet to confirm whether its team of experts has gained access to the site.
Ukraine has repeatedly called on Hungary and Slovakia to decouple from Russian fossil fuels
Both countries import a large amount of oil and gas from Russia
Ukraine’s energy analytics company ExPro reported that the Hungarian route is among the country’s primary natural gas import corridors
According to its estimates, Ukraine imported over 2.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Hungary in 2025, accounting for 45 percent of the nation’s total imports.
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Source: This article was originally published by Euronews
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