Slovakia has as much gas in storage as it usually does at the start of winter, minister says

After a mild winter and thanks to savings, Slovakia has as much natural gas in storage as it usually does before the start of the heating season, Economy Minister Karel Hirman and Miroslav Kulla, CEO of state-owned gas utility SPP, told reporters today. Hirman said Slovakia should therefore be able to get through next winter without crisis scenarios related to gas consumption.

The minister said gas storage facilities are nearly 60 percent full. According to available data, that is equivalent to more than two-fifths of the country's annual consumption. He put gas savings by consumers in Slovakia at more than 20 percent.

Slovakia previously covered its annual gas consumption of around five billion cubic meters mainly with supplies from Russia. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, SPP, the country's largest gas supplier, agreed contracts to buy gas from other companies. It has now extended those contracts.

“We are trying to diversify the risk so that we are never dependent on a single supplier whose disruption could cause a gas shortage in Slovakia,” Kulla said.