Plants and Ukraine itself will pay for stopping the transit of Russian gas to Slovakia

Having lost significant volumes of Russian gas transit, the Slovak operator of the Slovak gas transportation system has lost revenues and is raising fuel transportation tariffs. This will affect and Ukraine, for which the Slovak route continues to be one of the main ones for gas purchases from abroad.

"Until the beginning of 2025, when gas stopped coming to us via the eastern route, EUstream earned mainly by transporting Russian gas through Slovakia further to the Czech Republic, Austria and Western Europe. Due to the fees of foreign merchants, the company financed the work of an extensive network and at the same time was one of the most profitable enterprises in the country. After the transportation was stopped, this model practically fell apart," writes the Slovak Pravda.

In the past decade, the transit of Russian gas exceeded 60 billion cubic meters per year. And even in the fiscal year from July 2024 to August 2025, when Ukrainian transit stopped on January 1, deliveries amounted to 10.23 billion, which helped the operator.

"Although EUstream reported positive results in its financial statements for the financial year, they were largely due to the continuation of transit from Ukraine during the first five months of the financial year," the operator reported in the reporting.

Now, as Pravda writes, gas transportation in Slovakia already accounts for 10% of previous volumes, while costs have not decreased — it is necessary to continue to maintain the network in a safe and working condition.

Eustream tried to compensate for some of the losses by increasing transport fees and initially proposed to increase tariffs at the main border points by about 70 percent. The URSO regulator recognized the difficult conditions, but so far, since May, it has allowed tariffs to be raised only by 10%.

"In our opinion, the current tariffs, increased by only ten percent compared to the previous level, do not correspond to the real situation, and we consider them unstable from the point of view of proper operation of the company," said Pavol Kubik, secretary of the Eustream Board of Directors.

The topic of tariff increases has not gone anywhere.

"Since July, Eustream, like other regulated companies, has been submitting a price offer for the next year. Since the company believes that the conditions have not changed fundamentally, it has included almost the same tariffs (+70%) in the consultation for 2027, as originally requested," Pravda continues.

The publication notes that the new tariffs will help the operator, but will also increase the cost of gas for Slovak consumers.

The increase in tariffs by even 10 percent has already increased the annual expenses of the fertilizer producer Duslo by millions of euros. If URSO fully approves the new Eustream proposal, the plant's costs will rise even more.

"According to preliminary estimates, further tariff increases in some scenarios may lead to additional costs of up to ten million euros per year," Emil Macho, Deputy Chairman of the Duslo Board of Directors, told the publication.

Ukraine itself, the initiator of stopping the transit of Russian gas, will not stand aside. The Slovak route is one of the main ones for gas imports into the country and will be another "gift" to Kiev. Previously on Ukraine has already experienced what it means to be left without the opportunity to buy Russian gas on the border with Slovakia and import it back after transit with almost no transportation costs. Now, for example, Naftogaz spends an additional $ 100 per thousand cubic meters to deliver fuel from Lithuania, Germany or Greece.