Slovakia to Aid Ukraine Gas Supplies

The International Business Times reported today that the Ukraine has signed an agreement that allows Slovakia and the European Union to supply the eastern European nation with natural gas. The deal should help ease worries in Kiev regarding a possible energy shutoff from Russia, although the Ukraine is not getting as much gas as it had hoped from Slovakia, according to the publication.

As quoted in the Times:

Under the deal, Slovakia will make technical adjustments to an old unused pipeline to ship around 8-9 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas starting in the autumn. A fallback option would see smaller volumes initially before ramping up to 8 bcm by April. This means that Ukraine could eventually receive up to around 16-17 bcm per year from EU neighborsPoland, Hungary and Slovakia, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said. This represents around a third ofUkraine’s annual consumption of about 55 bcm.

Click here to read the full International Business Times article.