BUDAPEST, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Hungary has dispatched a delegation to Ukraine to conduct a fact-finding mission on the Druzhba oil pipeline and explore conditions for restarting oil deliveries, Deputy Energy Minister Gabor Czepek said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a border station between Hungary and Ukraine, Czepek said the government had established a four-member delegation to assess the pipeline's condition and discuss possible steps to resume operations. The delegation includes an oil industry expert, a senior government official experienced in international relations, and an energy market analyst.
Czepek said the oil transported through the pipeline belongs to Hungary's national oil company and is not subject to sanctions imposed by either the European Union or the United States.
The mission comes amid heightened volatility in global energy markets linked to the Middle East crisis, he said, adding that the Hungarian government has drawn on strategic reserves.
Hungary has coordinated with Slovakia on the issue. After talks in Bratislava with Slovak energy authorities and market stakeholders, the two countries agreed to turn the initiative into a joint Hungarian-Slovak effort, Czepek added.
The two governments have also sent a joint letter to the European Commission outlining their energy supply situation and requesting support to examine the pipeline's condition and facilitate its restart, he said.
In addition, Hungary has contacted Ukraine's deputy prime minister responsible for energy, requesting that the pipeline be reopened or that inspections be allowed.
Czepek said the delegation would travel to Kyiv to hold talks with Ukrainian energy officials, ambassadors stationed in the Ukrainian capital, and representatives of the European Commission.
"Today our delegation will cross the border and travel to Kyiv to discuss this letter and to engage in substantive dialogue at the negotiating table - an issue that is primarily in Hungary's interest, but has now also become a European one," Czepek said.
The Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude oil to Central Europe via Ukraine, has been out of operation since the end of January.
The disruption has become part of broader tensions between Budapest and Kyiv in recent weeks. Hungary has criticized the halt of oil transit and also forbidden the exports of gasoline and diesel to Ukraine, while blocking the approval of a 90-billion-euro (104.22-billion-U.S. dollars) European Union financial assistance package for Ukraine. ■