Ukraine restarts Russian oil to Europe, unblocking 90-billion-euro EU loan | Oil and Gas News | Al Jazeera

And Russia will pay Ukraine money for this transfer as they did for 3+ years since 2022 whole oil was previously going from Russia through Ukraine to Europe. It does sound crazy, but war is time when rich get richer and poor die. Always has been.

yeah all at war but business is business

Take loan. Blow up pipeline. Total accident, thanks for the loan.

And they had to repair the pipeline

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After EU approved the new 90b loan to Ukraine and somehow oil started flowing again

Cars need to drive, planes need to fly and ships need to sail, so change is slow, but most EU countries have reduced their crude oil imports from Russia to a minimum and since Jan 2026 the EU also banned imports from non-EU refineries that get their crude from Russia. But supply chains are complex and not all EU countries are as strict. Slovakia and Hungary have enjoyed exceptions to the sanctions but even those exceptions will run out soon. The reopened pipeline supplies only them and should help stabilize their finances a little bit so they can figure out a way to diversify, while also unlocking the 90bn loan to Ukraine which they desperately need to, well, stay alive. By the end of 2027, both Slovakia and Hungary need to have moved on from Russian oil as that’s the deadline for any and all Russian oil entering the EU. As of today, that’s (officially) basically already the case for all EU countries not called Slovakia and Hungary.

Thanks to the attack on Iran the whole world is in desperate need of energy.

Where else could we buy it from?

hold on tight cause starting from 1 may, kazak oil is not comming to germany. then europe will really want oil.

It's just barely enough to cover military expenses for 2 years

https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2026/03/PD26_N016_51.html https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/36042.jpeg According to Germany’s own Federal Statistically Office, crude oil imports from Russia have dropped over 99% from Russia directly. Imports from Norway have doubled. Now obviously this doesn’t paint the full picture, it’s only considering crude oil and especially looking at Kazakhstan and their supply chain it’s true that Russia still gets a piece of the cake, but it’d be crazy to assume it’s the same as before the war and that Germany hasn’t adjusted their strategy. Refined oils are another topic and up until the end of 2025 Turkey and India still bought Russian crude en masse to refine and sell to EU countries (not just Germany, mind you, Netherlands, France, Italy, Belgium and Spain are all stated to import from those countries). Since Jan 21 2026, the EU has banned refined oil imports that originate from Russia (if trackable), and market share from Russia has started to drop in non-EU refineries. https://finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/import-ban-refined-products-obtained-russian-crude-oil_en Oil is, unfortunately, the most challenging fossil fuel to substitute, as we’re increasingly seeing worldwide now with the Iran war increasing oil scarcity even more. Cars, planes, ships, all rely on oil (can’t run a motor on a heat pump) and politicians in Central Europe, and yes, especially Germany, have been, at best, slow at implementing meaningful changes to our energy dependencies, and at worst systematically obstructing progress by bad-faith practices due to lobby influences. Danke Merkel. But yes, Germany bad. We should all build 50 nuclear power plants that won’t be finished till 2060 and cost trillions in dollars only to end up with more expensive electricity than we have now that does nothing to solve emissions from car and ship traffic.

Because they needed the €90 billion funding from the EU, which was tied to restating the pipeline. This is all explained in the article.

Because they already got the political change they wanted in Hungary, but Slovakia is still a thorn in their side blocking the loans they need from the EU. So letting the oil flow helps both those countries and Ukraine at the same time. It's win-win-lose, so it's overall a win. Slovakia will have to change some other way, maybe a big election is coming their way someday.

Honestly why just fight man at this point,

Europe is not a monolith, any more than North America is. Two EU countries (Hungary + Slovakia) out of 27 are importers of Russian oil, accounting for 3% of Europe's oil imports - and further reductions of Russian oil imports are planned. 97% of Europe's oil is sourced elsewhere.

Americans would like a word with you.

Its funny, but not ha-ha funny..

Europe isn't really bothered by India's Russian oil imports, though? However, since you decided to make the comparison, here is a reality check for you: Russian oil imports to the EU fell from around 27% in 2022 to 3% in early 2025, with further reductions planned. Indian imports of Russian crude oil doubled month-on-month in March 2026, reaching a record high of 2.25 million barrels per day (bpd) and accounting for 50% of its total imports. State-owned refinery purchases rose by a massive 148%.

India is a sly dog. Can’t trust it even when they’re cosying up to you. They’re not like Pakistan, for example. Now Pakistan is a peace maker. Just look what they’re doing with Iran and USA. India gets blamed for things as it has no honour!

Because it's not just for unblocking 90b loan. Even though it will allow russia earn couple extra petrol dollars, it would also make new hungarian government and Hungarians very very happy. Even if new hungarian government would be set to move away from russian fossil fuels, it would still have to endure a lot of short term economical pain if the oil\\gas supply would remain cut off. It takes time to build up infrastructure and properly transition. Besides, it was a major orbans point in elections, saying he is the only one capable of restoring the flow of russian oil. If new government do that instead, it would appeal to the part of Hungarian population, which still supports orban. So why does Ukraine even need to make hungarians and Hungarian government very happy? Because there are a lot of things Hubgary can do to help Ukraine. It can stop vetoing every single loan and aid package. It can stop leaking classified EU information to russian foreign minister. It can use their border with Ukraine to finally engage in trade and logistical operations between EU and Ukraine like other EU neighbours of Ukraine did. It could even start actively supporting Ukraine and making defence and procurement and trade agreements with Ukraine. And even if new hungarian government would be willing to do any or all of the above, they still have to sell support of Ukraine to the Hungarian population. According to polls hungary in 2026 is still about 50/50 on supporting Ukraine or Russia. So in conclusion, its because Ukraine sees it as a small price to pay for building friendly relations and cooperation with hungary.

so instead of being enemies with russia, you want to be enemies also with Europe? Look, situation is dire that EU have to rely on russian oil, but there are very little alternatives. As EU population, we should try to stop using fossil fuel as much as possible.

russia will probably repeat it's "blow up our pipeline and blame Ukraine" tactic again.

India's trade volume with Russia is gargantuan and still growing. Compare this with the two tiny EU states still using Russian oil, and at least one of them planning to eliminate it. 50% of India's oil imports are from Russia. 40% of India's weapons imports are from Russia. India plans to increase trade with Russia to €100 billion annually. Meanwhile... 3% of Europe's oil imports are from Russia. 0% of Europe's weapons imports are from Russia. The EU plans to reduce trade with Russia to the bare minimum, including making it illegal for any EU country to buy Russian gas starting from next year. India absolutely is helping Russia keep its war economy alive. Europe is doing all possible to become independent from the Russian economy.