Slovakia will lose 500 million euros a year in gas transit fees, due to the decision of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to suspend deliveries of Russian gas through Ukraine, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said today.
In a post on Facebook, Fico said that his Smer-SD party is ready to negotiate with its coalition partners on the adoption of reciprocal measures, including suspending the supply of electricity to Ukraine, as well as limiting support to Ukrainian citizens in Slovakia, Slovakia’s TASR agency reported.
“I believe that the coalition partners also see the situation surrounding the stoppage of gas transit as extremely serious and worthy of sovereign Slovakia’s response. The only alternative for sovereign Slovakia is to continue transit or to seek compensation mechanisms to compensate for the loss of close to 500 million in public finances,” Fico said. , reports Tanjug.
In addition to the loss of 500 million euros for Slovakia, Fico calculated that the European Union will have a financial burden of 60 to 70 billion euros due to the suspension of the delivery of Russian gas through Ukraine.
He said that EU member states will pay this amount in higher gas and electricity prices.
“The Russian Federation will not be harmed in any practical way. Only the United States will benefit from President Zelensky’s decision through an increase in gas exports to Europe,” added Fico.
The contract on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine expired on December 31.
(Vijesti.ba)
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