Slovak gas importer sees Russian deliveries cut by half on Friday

We are working with a realistic risk that they will be cut completely," Prokypcak said, according to Slovak news website Dennik N. Prokypcak was also quoted as saying there are alternate sources to make up for lower deliveries from Russia, such as gas from the North Sea via Germany and the Czech Republic, and also liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries.

Slovak gas importer SPP was informed by Russia that its deliveries of gas would be reduced by half on Friday, the company said, in a pattern similar to other European importers of Russian gas.

"Today, we expect that deliveries under our contract (with Russia's Gazprom) will be lower by approximately 50%," SPP spokesperson Ondrej Sebesta said, confirming earlier reports by Slovak media. SPP is the main Slovak gas importer, supplying 36 terawatt-hours (TWh) last year, accounting for around 60% of the domestic market. It receives the vast majority of its gas from Russia.

SPP's chief executive Richard Prokypcak was quoted as saying that the cut was not causing any major problem. "Cutting the deliveries by half does not hurt us at the moment. We are working with a real risk that they will be cut completely," Prokypcak said, according to Slovak news website Dennik N.

Prokypcak was also quoted as saying there are alternate sources to make up for lower deliveries from Russia, such as gas from the North Sea via Germany and the Czech Republic, and also liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries. SPP has struck deals to buy enough piped Norwegian gas and other shipments of LNG to cover around two-thirds of SPP customers' demand until the end of next year.

Elsewhere in Europe, Italy's Eni said that it would receive only half of the gas it had requested from Gazprom on Friday after experiencing a shortfall in the two previous days. Gas flows to France from Germany have been halted since June 15, French pipeline operator GRTgaz said, citing the effects of reduced Russian supply.