Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is threatening to limit aid to Ukrainians in Slovakia due to Ukraineʼs halt in the transit of Russian gas.
Fico said this in his video address, Aktuality reports.
Fico says that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has allegedly “begun to sabotage Slovakia’s public finances and harm the financial interests of the entire European Union”. The loss to Slovakia from the gas transit halt, according to Fico, will amount to €500 million per year.
So Fico calls the way out of the situation either the restoration of gas transit or compensation for losses.
Next week, a Slovak government delegation will participate in negotiations in Brussels. After that, Fico plans to convene a coalition council, followed by a government meeting, at which the coalition partners are to discuss the situation and appropriate measures.
"We are ready to negotiate and agree in the coalition on the cessation of electricity supplies and a significant reduction in support for Ukrainian citizens who are on the territory of Slovakia," Fico said.
Fico said that in addition to Slovakia losing half a billion euros, the suspension of gas transit “will impose a financial burden of €60-70 billion on the entire European Union”. According to him, this amount will be paid by EU member states through higher gas and electricity prices.
Russian gas supplies to Slovakia
The agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the export of Russian gas to Europe through Ukrainian territory expired on January 1, 2025. Therefore, Slovakia and other EU countries are starting to look for alternative sources, one of which was Azerbaijan.
Russia said it was ready to continue supplying gas through Ukraine, but because of the war, Ukraine refused to participate in negotiations with Russia on gas exports through its territories.
Slovakian company SPP said it has diversified gas purchase contracts with BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Eni and RWE and has up to 150% of its customersʼ consumption available as a safety cushion. SPP said Slovakia has also diversified transit supply routes in case transit via the pipeline through Ukraine is disrupted.
- Slovakia and Hungary have also had problems with Russian oil supplies this year. Babel reported on this in detail here.
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