Amid Slovakia's threats to stop electricity supplies to Ukraine from January 1 due to the possible cessation of gas transit through Ukrainian territory, Poland declared its readiness to increase electricity exports to compensate for potential losses, reports Bloomberg citing a senior Polish official.
Warsaw's assurances came against the backdrop of an escalating dispute over the future of Russian gas transit through Ukraine. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened a few days ago that if gas transit is stopped, the country will stop electricity supplies, which Ukraine needs during network outages, if necessary. As reported by RBC-Ukraine citing government sources, Slovakia has cut off backup power sources for Ukraine.
Kiev, in turn, threatened retaliatory measures, including stopping the transit of oil through the "Druzhba" pipeline passing through Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky specified that Slovakia's share in electricity imports to Ukraine is 19%, for which Kiev pays about $200 million annually.
Bloomberg writes that almost three years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bratislava still relies on cheap gas from "Gazprom", thereby undermining the EU's efforts to reduce dependence on Russian energy.
The European Union intends to abandon fossil fuel supplies from the Russian Federation by 2027, with gas not being part of the sanctions that the EU has imposed against Moscow since 2022. This means that companies are still allowed to enter into contracts and continue imports if these agreements comply with the current European Union rules.