Poland to Help Ukraine With Electricity Supply If Slovakia Stops Export to Kyiv Over Gas Conflict
Poland is ready to increase domestic electricity production and exports to Ukraine if Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico follows through on his threat to cut off backup electricity supplies.
This was reported by Bloomberg with reference to a senior Polish official who wished to remain anonymous.
According to him, the Polish government is ready to increase domestic electricity production to compensate for any imbalance that may arise in the Ukrainian energy system in the event of such a move by Slovakia.
The agency notes that although the EU aims to phase out fossil fuel supplies from Russia by 2027. Gas was not part of the sanctions that the bloc imposed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This means that companies are still allowed to enter into contracts and continue imports as long as these agreements comply with current EU regulations.
The publication explains that even if a new agreement is reached to continue transit through Ukraine, it will only be temporary, as the European Commission is preparing a roadmap for the EU to stop importing energy from Russia. This strategy is due to be published in February.
Since March 2024, Russia has stepped up missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, destroying about half of its power capacity and causing blackouts across the country. Currently, Ukraine is heavily dependent on imports, including from Slovakia.
As a reminder, on 22 December, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico arrived in the Russian capital of Moscow to meet with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. After the meeting, Fico said that the meeting was a reaction to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's refusal to continue gas transit to Slovakia through Ukrainian territory.
After that, the opposition accused Slovak Prime Minister Fico of treason for visiting Putin and announced preparations for a vote of no confidence in the government.
On 27 December, Fico began publicly threatening that his country could stop supplying electricity to Ukraine on 1 January 2025, when Kyiv stops transiting Russian natural gas through its territory in accordance with the agreement that expires on that date.
Thus, legally, from 1 January 2025, the Ukrainian gas transmission system will be able to transport only gas of non-Russian origin.
According to the Association Agreement with the EU and the Energy Charter Treaty, Ukraine is obliged to ensure the transit of Russian oil to Europe at the request of the European Commission.
Earlier, the EU said it was ready to stop the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine from 1 January 2025.