The Druzhba pipeline (Russian: нефтепровод «Дружба», Czech: Ropovod Družba), also referred to as the Friendship Pipeline and the Comecon Pipeline, is one of the world's longest oil pipelines and one of the largest oil pipeline networks in the world. It began operation in 1964 and remains in operation today. It carries oil some 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) from the eastern part of European Russia to points in Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany.[1][obsolete source] The network also branches out into numerous smaller pipelines to deliver its product throughout Eastern Europe and beyond.
The name "Druzhba" means "friendship", alluding to the fact that the pipeline established friendly relations between the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe through the reliable supply of oil. Today, it is the largest principal artery for the transportation of Russian and Kazakh[2] oil across Europe.
- ^ "The List: The Five Top Global Choke Points". Foreign Policy. May 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-12-07. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
- ^ "Inpex Boosts Kazakhstan's Oil Exports to Germany via Druzhba Pipeline Network | Pipeline Technology Journal". www.pipeline-journal.net. Retrieved 2024-07-17.