Ukraine has denied it is open to negotiations over prolonging the transit gas contract with Gazprom, which expires at the end of this year.

Last week, Slovak leftist populist Prime Minister Robert Fico claimed that “a deal” was reached “likely enabling the continuation of transit of Russian gas” via Ukraine and praised it as “great news” following his meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on January 24.  He added that  “Austria and Italy will profit from it too”.

“The stance of the Ukrainian side is straightforward: the transit contract will expire at the end of this year”, Bloomberg quoted Shmyhal’s press department, which also stated that “we won’t negotiate with the Russians and won’t prolong the contract”.

Fico reiterated he discussed the gas transit at a meeting with Shmyhal.

“I understand that for political reasons, a relevant Ukrainian company can hardly sign a contract with Gazprom”, Fico told media on January 25.

“We do not have this issue. If a solution for transit is found that will secure transit fees for Ukraine, then I will welcome it. This was the subject of talks between me and Mr Shmyhal”, he added.

Import of Russian gas is not subject to EU sanctions imposed on the Kremlin following the Russian army’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but the bloc is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian gas.

Besides going to Austria and Italy, Russian gas from Slovakia began flowing to Czechia in October again and combined with Russian gas from Austria, it made up 7% of Czech domestic consumption, the Czech Press Agency (CTK) noted.

In the first eight months of 2023, imports of Russian gas to Slovakia dropped year-on-year, but the imports have increased compared to the same period in 2021 by approximately €200mn, Slovak news outlet Aktuality.sk noted last month.

In August 2023, imports of Russian gas to Slovakia amounted to €60.6mn, while imports from other countries were at €13.4mn. In January 2023, imports of Russian gas were at €383.3mn, while imports from other countries amounted to €171.9mn, according to Aktuality.sk’s graph based on the breakdown of data from the Statistical Office.

In March 2023, the country’s Ministry of Environment issued a positive EIA statement for constructing a LNG terminal in Bratislava. The €40mn project of Verejne pristavy, Slovak public ports company, should be located in Bratislava port on the Danube.