SLOVAK Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán symbolically opened a connection of the Slovak and Hungarian gas pipeline networks near the village of Szada, 28 kilometres northeast of Budapest. The connection is part of the North-South corridor, which in the future will allow the transit of gas from Poland to Croatia.
The premiers also signed a memorandum on the development of road infrastructure, the TASR newswire reported on March 27.
Fico noted during the ceremony the gas crisis that Slovakia faced in 2009.
“Nobody knows what will happen regarding the crisis in Ukraine, so I consider this connection as an important contribution to the energy security of this region,” Fico said, as quoted by TASR.
Orbán already stated during his visit in Brussels that the Slovak-Hungarian gas pipeline connection, which has been financed through the EU funds, fulfils not only business but also energy security requirements. This connection, according to him, will allow Hungary to receive for the first time ever non-Russian gas (coming via Ukraine), as the Hungarian network is now connected via Slovakia to the Czech gas system, as reported by TASR. The Czech gas system is supplied with Norwegian gas.
The new two-way gas pipeline with an annual capacity of five million cubic metres is 111 kilometres long, of which 92 kilometres is on Hungarian territory. The project cost €160 million, with the EU contributing €30 million via the European Energy Programme for Recovery funds.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
