Prime Minister Eduard Heger. (source: TASR - Jaroslav Novák)
At their Friday's session, European Union energy ministers agreed on three measures to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis.
Capping the price of natural gas was, however, not included among the measures. This is bad news for Slovakia, which would be significantly helped by the cap, according to its Economy Minister Karel Hirman. "The measures provided the nation states with the tools to deal with the crisis," he said.
In reaction to the political agreement at the Council, as well as ahead of the meeting, Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger threatened that Slovakia may move to nationalise electricity already sold abroad. This is a last resort solution that could trigger international arbitration.
Electricity price limit
The ministers agreed on capping the price of electricity produced by nuclear, coal, and renewable sources at €180 per megawatt hour (MWh).
The state can collect excess revenues made by electricity producers, and use them to compensate for the high electricity prices of households or small and medium-sized businesses.
Ministers overseeing the energy business in their respective member states say that electricity producers have made windfall profits in recent months without increasing their operating costs.
