Russian oil exports to some European countries via Ukraine were halted on August 4 following the refusal of a bank transaction as part of sanctions against Moscow, advances the Reuters.

With this suspension, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic will no longer receive Russian oil, which used to arrive through the Druzhba pipeline. This pipeline, it should be noted, crosses Ukrainian territory.

As the same news agency indicates, Transneft, the company responsible for the pipeline through Ukraine, says that it paid the August fee on July 22 to Ukrainian operator Ukrtransnafta, but says that the money was returned because the payment was unsuccessful.

Following this news, oil appreciated 2%, "which translates to less than $2 per barrel," according to XTB.

"Russia points out that this is due to problems with transit payments. Transneft should have paid the transit fee, but the payment was refunded due to sanctions. Transneft informs that oil transport through the northern pipeline remains unchanged," can be read in a note from XTB to which News to the Minute had access.

Hungary, which imports about 65% of its oil and 85% of its gas from Russia, is the only EU member to refuse military aid and has banned the shipment of lethal weapons to Ukraine across its borders.

Slovakia, meanwhile, gets about 97% of its oil from Russia through the Druzhba pipeline.