Prime Minister Robert Fico has assured Slovak gas consumers that the country has supplies secured for the upcoming winter, in the face of an ongoing sanctions war with Russia over the Ukraine conflict.
Speaking about the issue yesterday, the prime minister reiterated that Slovakia was still receiving less gas from Russia than it should, while trying to quell concerns by declaring the underground gas storage reservoirs are full and the country still has the option of reverse flow from Austria and the Czech Republic.
Fico mentioned the capacity of the pipeline at 15-16 billion cubic metres per year, noting how it was three times more than the country’s requirement. However, given that the rest of Europe is reliant on Russia for a third of gas consumption, supplies from the west may not be so easy to procure if Russia decides to turn the screws on Europe in retaliation of the sanctions the EU imposed on it. Slovakia has registered between 10-25% drop in daily volumes over the past two weeks.
The PM did mention how other countries were experiencing similar drops in gas volumes from Russia, which he says is using gas a political tool. Slovakia is highly reliant on Russian gas, transported here via Ukraine.