Slovakia imports two-thirds its gas from non-Russian suppliers this year

Denisa Sakova, Minister of Economy, said that Slovakia's dominant importer of gas, SPP, has only received 33% this year, from Russia. The rest is from other suppliers.

Slovakia rearranged its gas supplies after Ukraine stopped transiting Russian gas in the first month of this year. However, it was keen to continue receiving Russian Gazprom gas through its contract with Turkstream and Hungary.

The lower Russian volumes are a dramatic drop from 2024 when Russian gas was the majority of SPP’s supply.

Sakova, a reporter, said that the Russian gas volumes are limited by the capacity of a pipeline that runs through Hungary and is fully booked. He added that Hungary has given up some capacity to supply Slovakia.

She said, "We tried to use as much gas as possible from the Gazprom Contract when it was available."

Slovakia said that Russian gas was cheaper than other volumes, in part because Gazprom pays the transit fees on the route.

The European Union plans to force an end to Russian energy imports by 2028 have caused concern in the central European country that it will suffer as a result of its efforts. It is worried about rising costs, supply bottlenecks, and potential arbitration from Gazprom.

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU is working to phase-out Russian energy imports.

Sakova and SPP stated that the company has secured enough storage and diversification volume and routes to meet 2026 requirements through contracts with Western oil firms and European pipeline operators.

SPP covers approximately two thirds of Slovakia’s gas consumption. This is about 4.5 billion cubic meters per year.

Sakova confirmed a report that the U.S. is also in discussions with Poland and Lithuania to create a "northern pipeline" for supplies of liquefied gas from the U.S. through Baltic Sea terminals, Poland, and Ukraine.

She said that the plan needed an agreement on fees in order to be competitive with supplies from Greece, but she hoped that talks would lead to a possible compromise within the next few months. (Reporting and editing by Nia William; Jan Lopatka)

(source: Reuters)