Slovakia eyes contract for 1 bcm gas per year - minister
BAKU. Oct 12 (Interfax) - Slovakia plans to sign a contract for approximately 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually for a period of five to seven years to replace Russian supplies, and is considering Azerbaijan, Algeria and the United States as potential suppliers, Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said at a press conference in Bratislava on October 9.
She said that from the autumn of 2027, Slovakia would no longer be able to import Russian gas in accordance with the REPowerEU regulation, which envisaged a phased ban on EU imports of Russian energy. "We need a medium- or long-term gas supply contract for a period of five to seven years, with a volume of 1 billion cubic meters per year," Sakova said.
She said gas supplies from Algeria, Azerbaijan and possibly the United States were being considered. This would be approximately one third of the gas supplied by the Slovak company SPP.
Sakova also said that during a recent visit to the United States, the possibility of increasing supplies of U.S. liquefied natural gas to Europe was discussed.
She said U.S. LNG could be delivered to Slovakia via terminals in Germany, Poland, Italy, Greece and Lithuania. The route would depend on the cost of the gas and its transportation. It costs more to transport it via Poland than via Germany and the Czech Republic.
Regarding preparations for the 2026-2027 heating season, Sakova said Slovakia had secured the necessary gas through a long-term contract with Russia's Gazprom, valid until September 2027, as well as several short-term agreements and reserves in underground storage facilities.
As of October 6, SPP had gas reserves of 17.5 TWh, equivalent to 35% of the country's annual consumption. This target level was reached ahead of schedule, surpassing the original deadline of October 30.
Sakova said earlier that Bratislava was discussing with Baku the possibility of annual supplies of around 1.2 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas after 2027, when the European Union plans to halt Russian gas imports. SPP CEO Martin Huska has said that SPP was in talks with the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) regarding long-term gas supplies.
SOCAR began supplying natural gas to Slovakia on December 1, 2024, based on a short-term pilot contract signed on November 12, 2024. The terms and conditions of the agreement, including supply volumes and pricing, have not been disclosed.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in December 2025 said that the country was ready to continue suppliesto Slovakia at any given time.
Azerbaijan has gas supply agreements with 16 countries, including 13 in Europe: Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Germany, Ukraine and Austria. Long-term contracts with fixed supply amounts have been signed with Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, and a ten-year contract has been signed with Germany's SEFE (Securing Energy for Europe), with annual amounts gradually increasing to 15 TWh or around 1.5 bcm. Contracts without exact purchase amounts have been concluded with the remaining countries.
On June 1, 2026, SOCAR and Autonoma di Stato per i Servizi Pubblici (AASS) signed an agreement on gas supplies to San Marino starting in October of the current year.
In addition, Azerbaijan began exporting gas to Syria on August 2, 2025. At the initial stage, the supply volume is 3.4 million cubic meters per day with a subsequent increase to 6 mcm.
