SLOVAKIA is prepared for a potential gas crisis, PM Robert Fico said after meeting with representatives of the SPP gas utility and the company Eustream.
Fico met with representatives of Slovakia’s gas industry over the fact that the Ukrainian parliament is discussing a proposal of sanctions against Russia. The sanctions could cause the supplies of gas and oil from Russia to Slovakia to be cut, the SITA newswire reported.
Gas is currently flowing to Slovakia without any problems, but Slovakia needs to prepare for more complicated scenarios too, Fico said, as reported by SITA.
“Neither the people nor the Slovak industries need to worry, however, even if a radical cut in gas supplies occurred,” Fico said. He confirmed that if problems occur, Slovakia can rely on the reverse gas flow from Austria and the Czech Republic. The gas reservoirs are filled to 93 percent of their capacity, SPP board director Štefan Šabík said, as reported by SITA, adding that in two week’s time they should be filled completely. This volume should then suffice for all of SPP’s customers for five months.
The Slovak prime minister also called on the European Commission to take a more active role with regard to the sanctions being discussed by the Ukrainian parliament.
“It is peculiar if a country that signed an association treaty with the EU, a country we all are trying to help, instead of coordinating its attitudes with the EU takes one-sided steps that threaten the individual economic interests of the member states,” Fico said, as quoted by SITA.
Slovakia experienced a gas crisis in January 2009, when a cut in gas supplies lasted two weeks.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports.
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information
presented in its Flash News postings.
