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Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday (8 January) he had secured Slovakia’s gas supply during a visit to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month, just before Ukraine halted the transit of gas from Russia at the start of 2025.
“I needed to secure at a minimum gas for Slovakia’s domestic consumption – which we have secure,” Fico said in a video on Facebook.
Fico is one of the few European leaders Putin has stayed friendly with since the 2022 eruption of hostilities with Ukraine. The visit by Fico, whose country is a NATO and European Union member, came as a surprise.
Fico did not provide more details and the government office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fico has accused Kyiv of damaging Slovakia by not extending a transit deal for Russian gas that expired at the end of 2024, and has threatened to cut electricity flows to Ukraine and reduce aid for its refugees.
Slovakia has continued receiving gas coming via Hungary, which receives Russian gas via TurkStream, since the halt of flows from Ukraine, according to Slovak gas transmission network operator Eustream data.
The TurkStream pipeline brings Russian gas from the European territory of Turkey and continues via Bulgaria, where it is called Balkan Stream. Bulgaria doesn’t receive Russian gas, but transits the commodity to Serbia, Hungary and Austria.
Fico said that the halt from Ukraine has cost it 500 million euros in transit fees and 1 billion euros for higher gas prices.
Fico is due to meet European Commission officials in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the halt to Ukraine gas transit.
Kyiv has said the end of gas transit deprives Moscow of revenue as long as Russia continues to attack Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Fico of opening a “second energy front” against Ukraine on the orders of Russia.
(Edited by Georgi Gotev)
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