Slovakia’s transmission system operator, state-owned SEPS, will ensure electricity supplies to Ukraine as part of emergency assistance in accordance with the current contract with its Ukrainian partner Ukrenergo, SEPS reports.
According to iRozhlas, in recent days, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has repeatedly threatened Kyiv with retaliatory measures, including the termination of electricity supplies, in connection with the termination of Russian gas transit through Ukraine after the expiration of the relevant contract between Russia’s Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz.
Ukraine, which has been resisting Russia’s military invasion for almost three years, did not extend the contract as expected and on Wednesday stopped transiting Russian gas.
Last spring, SEPS extended the contract for another 12 months, under which it can supply up to 150 megawatts of electricity to the Ukrainian grid as part of emergency assistance. In practice, the Ukrainian side has repeatedly used this form of assistance.
In the first 11 months of last year, net electricity exports from Slovakia to Ukraine reached 2.43 terawatt-hours, which is three and a half times higher than in the same period in 2023.
Analyst Josef Badida told the Slovak newspaper Pravda that artificially limiting electricity supplies from Slovakia abroad would likely violate European and Slovak law.
Former Slovak Economy Minister Karel Hirman previously stated that electricity is sold to Ukraine by traders, not the state. He argued that Slovakia would be drawn into a conflict within the EU if electricity supplies to Ukraine were cut off. According to media reports, Poland expressed its readiness to increase electricity supplies to Ukraine following the Slovak prime minister’s comments.