Czech Republic ready to help Slovakia with gas if Ukraine stops transit of "blue fuel" from russia

Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Lukáš Vlček has said that Prague is ready to provide Slovakia with gas storage and transit capacity if Ukraine stops transit of russian gas to Europe from January 1, 2025.

Reuters reported this with reference to the statements of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.

It states that Lukáš Vlček sent a letter to his Slovak counterpart in which he said that the Czech Republic can provide Slovakia with additional capacity both in this heating season and on a long-term basis.

The Czech minister added that alternative supplies to the region will become more accessible after Germany agreed to exempt countries that carry out gas transit from a tax on gas for domestic consumption from January 1.

Reuters noted that the Czech Republic is among the European countries that no longer purchase gas from russia directly. At the same time, the cost of the German levy has forced Prague to increasingly rely on cheaper russian gas supplied from Slovakia in recent months.

As Ukrainian News Agency reported, on December 20, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Kyiv would stop transiting russian gas to Europe from January 1, 2025.

Recall that on December 27, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Bratislava would stop supplying electricity to Ukraine if Kyiv refused to continue transiting russian gas.

And today, Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Poland would help Ukraine compensate for the imbalance in the energy system if Slovakia stopped supplying electricity.