AlQa'dah 07, 1435, September 02, 2014, SPA -- Slovakia opened a pipeline on Tuesday able to deliver gas from the European Union to Ukraine, a link that could potentially supply up to 20 percent of the nation's annual consumption as Kiev grapples with a halt of Russia supplies ahead of winter, Reuters reported. The decision to open up so-called reverse gas flows eastward is part of the EU's response to Gazprom's decision to cut supplies to Kiev on June 16 in a row over pricing and in the wake of Moscow's annexation of Crimea. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico told a news conference at a pumping station near the Ukraine border that reverse flows from Slovakia, Hungary and Poland should cover Ukraine's mid-term gas import needs. Last year, Russia supplied about half of the 50 billion cubic metres of gas Ukraine used. "If we put together three reverse points in Slovakia, Hungary and Poland then we can reach 25 billion cubic metres a year in the mid-term horizon which would provide the solution Ukraine needs at the moment," Fico told reporters.
