Ukraine, Slovakia to consider possibility of reverse gas traffic

KIEV (Itar-Tass) - Ukraine and Slovakia are going to
explore the possibility of transporting natural gas across the interstate
border in the reverse mode, the press-service of Ukraine's Ministry of
Emergencies said on Friday.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry, this initiative was endorsed at a
meeting of the Ukrainian-Slovak joint commission for economic, industrial,
scientific and technical cooperation in the Transcarpathian region.
The Ukrainian delegation was headed by Emergencies Minister Viktor
Baloga, and the Slovak one, by Economics and Construction Minister Juraj
Miskov.
"The two sides discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral
cooperation, particularly those in energy, transport, agriculture,
standardization and metrology," the Ukrainian ministry's press-service
said.
The commission noted the importance of the existing corridor for the
transit of gas and oil Ukraine-Slovakia for the markets of both countries
and the EU as a whole.
"The parties agreed that the relevant economic entities will study the
possibility of transporting gas across the Ukrainian-Slovak state border
in the reverse mode. Also, the possibility will be explored of keeping gas
in Ukraine's underground storages for European consumers," the statement
runs.
The Slovak side expressed interest in participating in the
modernization of the Ukrainian gas transportation system.
In addition, it confirmed that the transit of natural gas through the
Ukrainian gas pipeline system, in view of the costs of its upgrading, "is
more cost effective than the laying of new pipelines."