Slovakia will replace Russian energy supplies once alternative routes are available, Saková says

Bratislava, Sept. 17 (CTK) - Slovakia will be ready to replace supplies of Russian oil and gas once it has access to alternative transport routes with sufficient capacity, Economy Minister Denisa Saková said. She told reporters today in response to calls from US politicians for the country to stop importing the Russian energy sources more quickly.

"We first need to have the conditions in place so that we do not cripple our industry and economy. Since gas supplies through Ukraine were not renewed, we are a country at the end of every pipeline. We want to diversify, but we have to rely on the capacity of the transport routes. We are at the mercy of neighboring countries. The same applies to oil," Saková said.

The minister said she conveyed this view on Monday at a meeting with US Energy Secretary Chris Wright in Vienna. Wright said in Brussels last week, according to Reuters, that the European Union could stop importing Russian gas and oil more quickly. US President Donald Trump then said over the weekend that he was prepared to impose major sanctions on Russia if all NATO members did so and stopped buying Russian oil.

Turkey is a major importer of Russian oil among NATO countries. Besides Slovakia, Hungary also remains dependent on Russian oil. Slovnaft, the Slovak refinery owned by Hungary's MOL Group, previously began importing non-Russian oil through the Adria pipeline, which runs from the Croatian port of Omišalj.

The operator of the Adria pipeline previously said it could fully meet the needs of MOL's refineries in Hungary and Slovakia. MOL had expressed doubts about whether the Adriatic pipeline could deliver enough oil if supplies via the Druzhba pipeline were completely halted. MOL also argued that transporting oil through the Adria pipeline was too expensive because of transit fees.

Supplies via the Druzhba pipeline were repeatedly disrupted in August by Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. Ukraine has been defending itself against Russia's military invasion since February 2022.

Last year, Ukraine did not renew its contract with Russia for transporting gas through its territory to Slovakia. Russia then began supplying gas to Bratislava via another route, whose transport capacity is limited. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, meanwhile, opposes the European Commission's initiative to end imports of Russian gas into the EU.