Slovakia announces termination of emergency energy aid agreement with Ukraine
Photo: Slovakia announced the termination of the emergency assistance agreement with Ukrenergo (facebook.com/npcukrenergo)
Ukraine’s national energy company Ukrenergo has received a notice from the Slovak transmission system operator SEPS about the unilateral termination of an agreement on emergency energy assistance. The document will cease to be in force in May, according to Ukrenergo.
"The reasons why our colleagues are cancelling the agreement were left unexplained by SEPS management," the statement said.
Ukrenergo added that it had never violated any contractual terms with SEPS, "acting in the spirit of good neighborly relations and respect for European legislation."
"Emergency assistance from Slovakia was used by Ukrenergo quite rarely and in very limited volumes. The last such case was recorded back in January this year," the company noted.
At the same time, it assured that this decision would have no consequences for Ukrainian consumers. It will also not affect the commercial exchange of electricity between the countries.
Electricity imports from Slovakia to Ukraine continue without restrictions in line with the results of daily and long-term auctions for the allocation of cross-border transmission capacity.
On February 21, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened to stop electricity supplies to Ukraine.
A few days later, Fico announced the suspension of emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine despite the difficult situation with the power supply in the country.
The decision sparked criticism within Slovakia. The opposition parliamentary party Freedom and Solidarity announced plans to file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office, while MP Karol Galek said the Prime Minister was "opening a new front against Ukraine" on Russia’s side.
