SLOVAKIA is to take part in an oil-pipeline project known as Odessa-Brody-Plock, according to a decision taken by representatives from the EU, Ukraine and Poland at a joint task force meeting in Bratislava on April 20.
The project includes the transit of oil from Ukraine through Slovakia to a refinery in the Czech Republic via the Druzhba pipeline. It is expected that some 600,000 tonnes of light crude oil will be transported through Slovakia per month, or 3 million tonnes per year, the TASR news agency wrote.
The Slovak oil pipeline system can currently carry only one type of oil, but there are plans to make adjustments. "It was agreed today that Transpetrol would prepare an investment plan for transporting other types of oil," said Martin Zlocha, Transpetrol's director of operations.
The project for transporting light crude oil from Ukraine to Western Europe has been on the drawing board for several years. The diversification of oil supplies has become a major focus of debate within the European Commission.
