Slovakia has halted emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine, Fico says

Bratislava/Kyiv, Feb. 23 (CTK) - Slovakia has halted aid to Ukraine in the form of emergency electricity supplies, Prime Minister Robert Fico announced today. Bratislava will reverse the measure, he said, if Ukraine resumes oil transit to Slovakia. Fico also threatened Kyiv with further retaliatory measures, but did not specify what they would be. Bratislava said in the evening that Ukraine had again postponed the planned date for resuming oil supplies to Slovakia. In a statement issued in the evening, Ukrainian energy company Ukrenergo said Slovakia’s decision would have no impact on the operation of Ukraine’s energy system.

Oil has not flowed to Slovakia and Hungary through the Druzhba pipeline since January attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Bratislava and Budapest say Ukraine has not resumed the transit of Russian oil for political reasons.

“From today, if the Ukrainian side asks Slovakia for assistance in stabilizing Ukraine’s energy grid, it will not receive such assistance,” Fico said. He had already threatened to halt electricity supplies to Ukraine over the past weekend.

These supplies are handled in Slovakia by the state-controlled transmission system operator SEPS, which previously signed an agreement with its Ukrainian counterpart Ukrenergo on emergency electricity supplies.

Ukrenergo said it last requested emergency assistance from Slovakia more than a month ago, and in a very limited volume. “Any possible termination of emergency electricity supplies from Slovakia will have no impact on the operation of Ukraine’s unified energy system,” the company added.

Fico said the Slovak government is authorized to take the announced step without violating any international rules or commitments. The euractiv.sk website reported that halting electricity exports from Slovakia to Ukraine would violate EU market rules and the principle of energy solidarity.

The Slovak prime minister added that if Ukraine “continues to harm Slovakia’s interests in the supply of strategic raw materials,” the Slovak government would also reconsider its current position on Ukraine’s EU membership and prepare further measures. Hungary opposes Kyiv’s ambitions to join the EU.

In a press release in the evening, Slovakia’s Ministry of Economy said Ukraine had postponed the planned resumption of oil supplies to Slovakia until Wednesday. Bratislava had previously noted that the Ukrainian side was repeatedly postponing the dates without providing further explanation. According to an earlier announcement by Slovakia’s Ministry of Economy, oil transit was due to resume on Tuesday; Ukraine had previously said it would resume on Saturday of the previous week, and earlier still, on Friday.

Following the interruption of oil supplies to Slovakia, Fico’s government declared an oil emergency last week and offered the Bratislava refinery Slovnaft, part of Hungary’s MOL Group, the option of using up to 250.000 tonnes of oil from state reserves.

Slovnaft has meanwhile ordered oil from other sources and plans to transport it to Slovakia via the Adria pipeline, which runs from Croatia. The Bratislava refinery said the pipeline operator is obliged to transport Russian oil as well. Croatian Economy Minister Ante Šušnjar said last week, according to media reports, that his country would not allow the transport of Russian oil.

Slovakia and Hungary depend on Russian oil. Both countries have obtained an EU exemption for imports of the commodity. Hungary has also received an exemption from US sanctions, which, according to Bratislava, also applies to Slovnaft.

Opposition politicians in Slovakia had already criticized Fico for wanting to halt electricity supplies to Kyiv on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s military invasion of its neighboring country. They also pointed out that the Czech Republic had already ended its dependence on Russian oil.

Last week, Fico cast doubt on reports from Ukraine that Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure were behind the interruption of oil transit. Fico threatened to halt electricity supplies from Slovakia to Ukraine last year, after Kyiv did not extend its agreement with Russia on transporting Russian gas through its territory to Slovakia and onward to Western Europe. At the time, however, electricity supplies from Slovakia to Ukraine continued.