On 1 February this year, the Slovak Gas Industry (SPP) started importing Russian gas to Slovakia via the TurkStream pipeline. These supplies are expected to double from April. Vojtech Ferencz, chairman of SPP's board of directors, said this at a meeting with journalists on Thursday.
Ferencz did not specify the volumes involved. He reminded that SPP has a valid contract with Russia's Gazprom and the price for gas transit by this company is significantly lower than that of other suppliers.
Michal Lalik, director of SPP's commercial division, said that despite the agreement, Slovakia will probably have to import gas via other routes because the capacity of the pipeline through Hungary is not sufficient to cover its entire consumption. The most likely route is from Germany via the Czech Republic, where SPP has reserved capacity.
In January, SPP met the needs of its customers mainly by drawing gas from storage facilities, where the company still has above-average gas reserves as of the current date.
Ferencz stressed that SPP's priority is to ensure sufficient gas supplies for its customers. The problem is the rising price of gas and higher costs of supply via alternative routes.
Gas prices are currently exceeding long-term highs and are around €53 per megawatt hour (MWh). Back in December, before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's announcement to halt all gas transit through Ukraine, they were around €40/MWh. Gas prices have reached their current level following news of gas shortages in Ukraine and the publication of a negative weather forecast for the coming weeks.
The price of gas on the exchange for delivery in the summer months of this year is also non-standard, which is higher than the price of gas for delivery in the winter months. This means that traders are worried about gas shortages in the summer, when EU countries need to fill up their storage to comply with the EC regulation on sufficient gas stocks at the start of the heating season.
TASR/ gnews - RoZ
PHOTO - SPP
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