Slovakia to Receive Significantly Increased Russian Gas Via TurkStream Pipeline

Slovakia is set to receive a substantially larger portion of its Gazprom PJSC gas deliveries through the TurkStream pipeline, transiting Turkey and Hungary, following the disruption of flows via Ukraine earlier this year, Bloomberg reports.

Starting Tuesday, gas deliveries to Slovakia will be at a “multiple” of current flows, according to Vojtech Ferencz, chief executive officer of state utility Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel AS (SPP). Ferencz announced the development to journalists in Bratislava, though he declined to provide specific volume details.

The increased Russian gas supply will provide much-needed relief to landlocked Slovakia, which was among the countries most affected when Moscow halted gas deliveries to Europe via Ukraine at the beginning of 2024. While Gazprom will continue sending the same total amount of gas to Europe via TurkStream, a larger share will now be directed to Slovakia, particularly crucial as the period for stockpiling for the next winter heating season begins.

Slovakia began receiving Russian gas through the TurkStream pipeline in February, as previously reported by Bloomberg News. Since the war in Ukraine in 2022, much of Europe has been forced to shift away from Russian piped gas. However, several countries, including Slovakia, continued to rely on Gazprom’s flows via Ukraine and were subsequently forced to purchase more expensive supplies from alternative sources.

Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova stated at the same briefing that there is currently no clear timeline for a potential resumption of gas transit through Ukraine. Sakova has been in regular communication with the European Commission regarding the matter.

SPP’s trade director, Michal Lalik, added that although repairs to Russia’s Sudzha gas metering station, which sustained damage in a drone attack earlier this month, may take some time, other interconnection points are currently operational.