In a move that has grabbed the attention of countries across the European Union, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico boldly confirmed on Monday that gas prices for households next year will not increase.
“[The Slovak gas provider] Slovenský plynárenský priemysel proposes for next year exactly the same price as the prices valid for this year. We’re talking about all categories of households. We did this in the name of the state exactly what we had promised to the Slovak public,” the prime minister said after the dominant natural gas supplier delivered its price proposal for next year to the Office for Regulation of Network Industries (URSO). The regulator should then decide on the price proposal of the gas utility within one month. The prime minister confirmed as well that if SPP wanted to liquidate the generated loss in the household segment, it would have to ask the regulator to okay a price hike by 26 to 30 percent. Fico believes that the company will do away with this loss of some 76 million euro within four to five years. In particular a new contract negotiated with the Russian gas major Gazprom should help the company. Negotiations with the Russian giant should be closed within six to seven weeks, estimates Fico. Also corrections to gas storage contracts and the restructuring of the SPP parent company after the state’s entry into it, should help liquidate losses in the household segment. The prime minister, however, refuses to specify whether the restructuring of the gas utility will also involve staff layoffs.
