Fico scared Europe with the loss of gas transit through Ukraine: Politico named the reason
Date: 2025-01-03 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: ECONOMY
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico scared Europe with a terrible future without the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, trying to ensure continued supplies. But his forecasts turned out to be wrong, and gas prices did not skyrocket.
Politico writes that gas storage facilities in Slovakia are more than three-quarters full, which is higher than the seasonal average, in Hungary - about 68%, Austria and the Czech Republic also have significant reserves.
"Of course, there is no crisis," said Laurent Rusekas, a leading expert on gas markets and executive director of S&P Global. "There are no supply problems for Slovakia or other countries like Austria and the Czech Republic. The storage capacity is relatively high compared to demand, so even if there were no alternative sources, there would be no supply problems. And there are enough alternative sources."
Meanwhile, Michal Kocurek, an energy expert at the Czech consultancy EGÚ, believes that the impact on the EU as a whole will be minor.
"I would even dare to say that the risk that traders were constantly afraid of and constantly manipulated, pushing prices up, has finally disappeared. It will soon become clear that Slovakia is well supplied, there are no problems, and prices on the EU market are falling," he said.
Now there are doubts about Fico's belief in the possibility of a crisis.
According to GLOBSEC economist Vladimir Vonjo, Slovakia was well prepared for the cessation of transit through Ukraine, it was expected.
Rusekas noted that while the bills may rise slightly, traders have already "priced in" the transit cutoff, and the German government's decision to waive transit fees for gas supplied to Central Europe will help avoid a sharp price hike.
But instead, Fico will lose revenue from transporting Russian gas to his neighbors, and state energy company SPP will lose tens of millions of euros.
Fico's increasingly desperate attempts to maintain a loophole for profit have driven another wedge between him and EU leaders. A surprise visit to Moscow on December 22 for direct talks with Vladimir Putin drew condemnation. Slovakia has lost leverage over Ukraine.
