EU eyes Ukrainian storage fix to Slovakia gas spat

The European Union is discussing a new plan that would harness Ukraine’s mammoth underground gas storage capacity to resolve a long-standing feud between Kyiv and Slovakia, according to two officials familiar with the talks, Report informs via Politico.

The proposal, first discussed by European commissioners during a visit to Kyiv last month, aims to mollify Slovakia’s anger over lost energy revenue from the end of a gas transit deal between Ukraine and Russia in January. The agreement brought gas into the EU, with Slovakia reaping transit fees — up to €500 million annually.

Slovakia’s pro-Russian premier, Robert Fico, has pushed Ukraine to revive the deal, threatening to cut power exports to Kyiv and support for its refugees. But Kyiv has not budged.

Now, the European Commission, the EU’s executive, is mulling a plan that could help restart flows to Slovakia, according to one Commission official and one EU government official.

The scheme would avoid the need to buy gas from Russia — a clear no-go under the bloc’s REPowerEU plan that aims to phase out Moscow’s imports by 2027. Instead, Ukraine would ramp up gas imports from Greece and Türkiye and store up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas in its storage facilities, said the officials, who were granted anonymity to speak about sensitive matters.

Those flows would then pass via Slovak pipelines to countries like Hungary during winter when supplies are low.

That “would make Slovakia a transit country again,” the Commission official said, adding it would also respect a “red line” for Brussels: “It has to be in line with REPowerEU objectives.”