SLOVAKIA has secured enough gas to withstand a potential supply crisis, said Prime Minister Robert Fico after May 23 extraordinary session of the Slovak Security Council on the possible crisis in relation to the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The session was also attended by Economy Minister Tomáš Malatinský, representatives of the Slovak gas-pipeline operator Eustream and Slovak gas utility (SPP).
"It's very likely that on June 1, 2014 Gazprom will cut off the gas supply to Ukraine for its domestic consumption. This doesn't mean that gas transit won't continue to Slovakia and then onwards to Western Europe," said Fico as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The Slovak Security Council considers this scenario to be realistic, according to Fico.
"We also talked about our existing gas stocks. It's very good that it was a mild winter, which has allowed us to fill gas storage facilities faster ... thus we can say with certainty that if not even a single cubic meter of gas is delivered to Slovakia from the west or from the east, we have enough to cover the needs of households and the economy until the end of September," said Fico as quoted by TASR.
Slovakia's annual consumption is about 5 billion cubic meters. Through reverse flow - via pipeline interconnections of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and Slovakia and Austria – about 85-90 million cubic meters of gas can be delivered per day. "This is many times more than Slovakia's real needs," he added.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports.
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information
presented in its Flash News postings.
