The extent of the unrest was not immediately clear and it coincided with an explosion in a village in eastern Poland near the Ukrainian border that alerted NATO countries. Hungary’s MOL ( MOLB.BU ) said its Ukrainian partner told the company that a Russian missile had hit a power station near the border with Belarus that provides electricity for a pumping station, leading to the outage. Slovakia’s Transpetrol also confirmed the suspension, citing “technical reasons from the Ukrainian side,” but did not elaborate on the rocket attack. The Druzhba pipeline network originates in Russia and splits in Belarus to Ukraine, where it splits again, supplying several countries in Eastern and Central Europe that depend on this oil, including onshore refineries in Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. “The reason for the supply suspension has not yet been officially confirmed by the Ukrainian side,” Transpetrol said in a statement, adding that it expected to have more information on the cause of the shutdown by Wednesday. Czech pipeline operator MERO has so far not noticed any interruptions in the flow of oil through the Druzhba line, a spokesman said on Tuesday. Polish pipeline operator PERN said late Tuesday that oil was flowing normally through the Polish section of the line. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called a defense council meeting on Tuesday following the suspension of Druzeba’s missions, Orbán’s press chief told state news agency MTI. Russia’s state pipeline monopoly Transneft ( TRNF_p.MM ) was informed by Ukraine that supply to Hungary was temporarily suspended, the RIA news agency reported, citing Transneft. Oil prices jumped on the news, with benchmark Brent up 0.8% on the day. The Druzhba pipeline network originates in Russia and spans Eastern and Central Europe. Reporting by Krisztina Than and Jan Lopatka. additional reporting by Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw; editing by David Gregorio; Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
