Slovakia says Ukraine discord could cause cut in fuel exports

Slovakia said it could be forced to cut fuel exports to neighboring countries — including Ukraine — if the war-ravaged nation maintains sanctions that have cut the flow of piped crude from Russia.

Oil supplies to Slovakia and Hungary from Moscow-based producer Lukoil PJSC were suspended last week following a decision by the Ukrainian government to impose stricter sanctions on the company. 

Despite 2 1/2 years of war, Russian oil has continued to flow into the two central European countries via a pipeline that crosses Ukraine. However, Kyiv’s recent measures effectively barred Lukoil from using Ukraine as a transit route anymore — even if other producers are still allowed to send barrels through.

But Slovakia’s economy ministry warned on Thursday a lack of Russian crude for a sustained period might force it to scale back exports of fuels.

“The energy security of Slovakia is not threatened in the immediate future,” the ministry said. However, “if this issue is not actively addressed, it could lead to restrictions on commercial supplies of petroleum products not only in Slovakia but also in the countries to which these oil products are exported (Czech Republic, Ukraine).”  

The European Commission said Tuesday that it doesn’t see any impact yet on the bloc’s oil supplies. 

Slovakia and Hungary asked the bloc’s executive arm for a meeting of its trade policy committee to discuss the issue, which will be held Wednesday, according to Olof Gill, a commission spokesman.