Sawt Falasteen - Slovakia curbs diesel sales, ups prices for foreigners

Ukraine, invaded by Russia in February 2022, has said the pipeline taking Russian oil to Europe was damaged by Russian strikes on its territory in late January.

Landlocked neighbours Slovakia and Hungary, whose leaders foster close ties with the Kremlin, have accused Kyiv of deliberately delaying reopening the pipeline.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday that its top refinery, Slovnaft, currently partially relies upon oil from state reserves.

For 30 days from Thursday, Slovakia will restrict diesel sales at service stations, allowing customers only to fill a car tank and a container of up to 10 litres.

One driver can buy diesel worth up to 400 euros for a single car.

Foreign drivers, who currently take advantage of lower prices in Slovakia, will pay more.

"The government has set a special price for foreign cars calculated as the average price of diesel prices charged in Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic," said Fico.

"Self-service petrol stations and those failing to comply should be closed," he added.

Slovakia has also restricted diesel exports to other countries.

"The measures are rather... extreme, but there is no other way in the situation wherein (Ukrainian) President (Volodymyr) Zelensky is helping us like this," Fico said ironically.

Last week, the EU proposed a mission to inspect the pipeline.

But Fico said that if the mission does not include Slovak and Hungarian experts, it will be no more than "a bad joke".

He also said he would not vote on a resolution on Ukraine at the EU summit starting in Brussels on Thursday over the bloc's reluctance to mention Druzhba in it.

T.Khatib--SF-PST