The ban on Russian oil imports through the Northern Druzhba pipeline was suggested by Brussels on Friday under pressure from Poland, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency has reported.
However, Germany "rejected the proposal despite pledging last year that it would stop buying Russian crude oil and asking when Poland would do so," according to IAR.
In December, the EU banned imports of sea-borne oil from Russia, but exempted pipeline oil, in concession to landlocked countries Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, The Economist magazine has reported.
These countries buy Russian oil via the Southern Druzhba pipeline through Ukraine and are reluctant to ditch Russian supplies, according to news outlets.
Poland, Germany differ on Northern Druzhba pipeline
In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Poland and Germany are no longer buying Russian oil that used to flow via the Northern Druzhba pipeline through Belarus, the biznesalert.pl website reported on Tuesday.
Poland has been pushing for EU sanctions on this pipeline to avoid having to pay compensation for breach of contract, it said.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Schwedt refinery is still using the Northern Druzhba pipeline to import the so-called KEBCO oil from Kazakhstan, according to biznesalert.pl.
The government in Berlin intends to keep using this route to source crude from Kazakhstan, according to news reports.
Poland has voiced concerns that "the ostensibly Kazakh resource may in fact be Russia’s REBCO oil," biznesalert.pl reported.
EU working on 11th sanctions package against Russia
Germany’s opposition to the proposed ban on the Northern Druzhba pipeline could complicate the EU’s efforts to adopt the 11th package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, the IAR news agency reported.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said on Monday that the new round of punitive measures against Moscow would be ready “no sooner than in May,” according to a report by Polish state news agency PAP.
Due to continued resistance from France, Hungary and Bulgaria, this 11th package will not include sanctions on Russia’s nuclear sector, while differences of opinion among member states mean that a ban on Russian diamonds will not be part of the new measures, either, the IAR news agency said.
Tuesday is day 426 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, biznesalert.pl, The Economist