Slovak government officials during their visit to Azerbaijan discussed the purchase of energy resources, which would allow Bratislava to get an alternative to Russian gas.
Slovakia is looking for a replacement for Russian gas in Azerbaijan
Slovak PM Robert Fico was accompanied by the Minister of Economy Denisa Saková, Minister of Foreign Affairs Juraj Blanár, and several business people. Bratislava and Baku discussed deepening cooperation in several areas, including energy.
Currently, Azerbaijan exports gas to eight countries. I hope Slovakia will become the ninth, said the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the briefing after the meeting.
Minister Sakova noted that Slovakia "will make every effort to import gas from Azerbaijan to Slovakia so that we can diversify supplies and eliminate Russian gas."
It is known that Slovakia is one of the EU countries that continues to receive Russian gas in transit through the Ukrainian Gas Transporting System (GTS). The Russo-Ukrainian transit agreement will expire at the end of 2024, and Ukraine rules out its extension.
What is known about the importance of the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine for the EU
Ukraine does not plan to continue the transit of Russian gas to Europe through its territory, which creates tension in European gas markets.
Bloomberg journalists note that although the criminal war unleashed by the Kremlin against Ukraine put an end to any diplomatic negotiations between the countries, the EU hoped for an agreement on extending the terms of transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine.
However, during the Flame conference in Amsterdam earlier this week, a representative of the operator of the Ukrainian GTS rejected the possibility of negotiations between traders regarding the transit of Russian gas.
It is emphasised that supplies of Russian gas to Ukraine have decreased to a minimum. Still, European traders note that they are enough to provide energy to the Netherlands during the six coldest months of the year.
Transit through Ukraine is one of the two remaining routes for the supply of Russian gas to Europe.
