KYIV, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Ukraine, whose power plants have been significantly damaged by Russian bombing, continues importing electricity from neighbouring countries, transmission system operator
Ukraine Keeps Power Imports Flowing as Slovakia Halts Emergency Aid
Ukraine’s Power Imports Amid Regional Energy Strains
KYIV, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Ukraine, whose power plants have been significantly damaged by Russian bombing, continues importing electricity from neighbouring countries, transmission system operator Ukrenergo said on Tuesday, after Slovakia moved to stop emergency supplies.
Slovakia’s Suspension of Emergency Electricity Aid
Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Monday that Slovakia's power grid operator would refuse Ukrainian requests for emergency supplies until oil flows resume via the Druzhba pipeline, which runs from Russia through Ukraine to central Europe.
Slovakia and Hungary have been cut off from Russian crude through Druzhba since damage to the pipeline last month, and blame Ukraine for the prolonged outage.
Ongoing Cross-Border Power Purchases
"Electricity is being imported from all EU countries neighbouring Ukraine and Moldova, in accordance with the results of auctions for the distribution of available interconnection capacity," Ukrenergo said on Telegram.
UKRAINE SAYS COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS NOT AFFECTED
Real-Time Flows from Slovakia
Data from the Slovak system operator also showed flows into Ukraine continuing.
Ukrenergo said on Monday that any refusal by Slovakia to extend emergency electricity supplies on demand would have no practical effect. It said Ukraine last sought emergency supplies from Slovakia more than a month ago, and in small volumes.
Commercial vs. Emergency Supply Channels
Ukraine can obtain electricity from EU countries either through commercial contracts or in the form of emergency assistance, usually in relatively small volumes for short periods of time.
Analyst View: 70% Share from Slovakia and Hungary
According to analysts at ExPro consultancy, commercial supplies from Slovakia and Hungary account for 70% of Ukraine's total energy imports.
Druzhba Pipeline Outage and Conditions for Reversal
SLOVAKIA AND HUNGARY AWAIT DRUZHBA RESTART
Slovakia said its measure preventing emergency supplies would be cancelled when oil transit resumed.
The flow of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia has been cut off since January 27, when Kyiv says a Russian drone strike hit pipeline equipment in western Ukraine.
Slovakia has said it lacks information on the extent of damage. The Slovak Economy Minister said on Monday that pipeline system operator Transpetrol had been informed, without further explanation, that oil deliveries via Druzhba would resume on February 25.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, additional reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague)
