A national energy strategy for the next 20 years approved by the Economic and Social Council (HSR) on May 12 envisages the construction of a third reactor at Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear power plant along with the building of the Bratislava-Schwechat oil pipeline.
Economy Minister Tomáš Malatinský said that the pipeline is a priority project of European significance. “We still have a valid agreement with the Austrian side that we’ll build the pipeline,” said Malatinský, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
“So far we haven’t given up the implementation of the project,” he continued. “Right now, it’s under environmental preparation, and we’re counting on it being carried out in the long term. If we started building it today, it would be completed long after 2020, so it would be some time at the end of the period to which the submitted material relates.”
The strategy will now be assessed by the Environment Ministry, which will evaluate it from the point of view of environmental protection.
Malatinský was ordered to secure the Slovak energy security mainly due to the nuclear fuel which is exclusively Russian by the parliamentary committee for defence and security, the special session of which was initiated for May 13 by opposition MPs. “Slovak power plants have to immediately start negotiating a replacement for supplier of nuclear fuel in case of conflict, to that Slovakia is not dependent on a single country, but has more alternatives,” Daniel Lipšic (independent MP, NOVA party) told TASR. The committee also recommended Defence Minister Martin Glváč to secure acquisitions of military material primarily from the European Union and NATO countries.
A priority should also be to enhance the transport capacity of the oil pipeline Adria which diversifies the possibilities of oil delivery, the SITA newswire wrote. Slovakia should also negotiate with European suppliers the delivering of gas during crisis.
(Source: TASR, SITA)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
