Experts from European Union member states will inspect the section of the Druzhba oil pipeline in Ukraine damaged by Russian shelling on March 18.
As Suspilne learned from its own sources, a small delegation of European engineers is already in Kyiv. The EU representation in Ukraine is handling logistics.
Earlier, a European Commission official said that experts would inspect the damage to the Druzhba “as soon as possible” as EU leaders meet for a summit on March 19 to discuss unlocking a €90 billion loan for Ukraine. He added that representatives from Slovakia and Hungary would not participate in the visit to the pipeline section.
“Hungary requested such a mission, and, if I understand correctly, there were representatives in Ukraine who, in the end, were not granted access. In my opinion, it makes sense to involve some independent experts to carry out this visit, and this is positive. In this sense, there is now readiness. We have contacted experts from member states (EU – ed.), because we do not have experts who would deal with pipelines,” he said then.
The day before, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a letter to EC President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa, confirmed that Ukraine had agreed to the European bloc's offer of financial and technical assistance in repairing the Druzhba pipeline.