Druzhba Oil Pipeline Operator Pern Reveals No 3rd Parties' Guilt Behind Leak

WARSAW, October 12 (Sputnik) - Polish operator of the Druzhba oil pipeline, Pern, did not reveal the guilt of third parties in the oil spill, the company said.

Earlier, Pern announced the depressurization of one of the two strings of the Druzhba oil pipeline leading to Germany.

"After removing most of the contamination from the site located next to the oil pipeline damaged yesterday, Pern's technical services localized the leak. From the primary conclusions and from the way the pipeline was deformed, it follows that at the moment there are no signs of third-party interference," the statement says.

At the moment, specialists are studying possible causes of the accident and repairing the pipeline to start pumping oil as soon as possible, according to the statement.

Pern also launched intensive reclamation work at a cornfield where the oil leaked "to return it to its original state as soon as possible." The reclamation work is carried out by Pern environmental staff and a specialized third-party company hired by the operator.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday that "many traces lead to the Kremlin" in the case of the accident at the Druzhba oil pipeline.

"We do not know exactly who is behind this accident - whether it was an accident or an act of sabotage. The appropriate services are investigating everything. Of course, many traces immediately point to the Kremlin, but we want to be very responsible, and only then [when the investigation is over] will we confirm the assumptions," Morawiecki told Polskie Radio.

Polish official responsible for energy infrastructure Mateusz Berger said earlier in the day that there were no reasons to believe that the leak at the Druzhba oil pipeline happened due to sabotage.

Earlier on Wednesday, the opposition right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) called on the government to look into the likelihood of a connection between the incident on the Polish section of the Druzhba oil pipeline and the earlier act of sabotage on the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

In September, leaks were also registered on gas pipelines of the Nord Stream network that runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. According to Sweden, Germany and Denmark, the incidents could be a result of sabotage or staged explosions. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has been investigating the pipeline incidents as acts of international terrorism. Meanwhile, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod has announced the government's intention to reject Russia's participation in the probe.