On February 9, Slovakia's Ministry of Economy stated that Slovakia is ready to adapt existing infrastructure for gas imports from Azerbaijan.

"The Slovak operator, with the government's support, is preparing a project for a corridor to import Azerbaijani gas to improve the reliability of supplies in the region of south-eastern Europe. The original idea [the former Eastring project] was to develop a route that would allow Europe to import 20 billion cubic meters of non-Russian gas. This idea was further developed, and it was decided to immediately import 5 billion cubic meters of gas per year with only minor adjustments to the currently used infrastructure in cooperation with the transmission system operators of Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria," the Ministry said.

They stressed that against the background of the current geopolitical situation, this idea has become more important. "This [plan to increase gas supplies from Azerbaijan] was confirmed by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on a strategic partnership in the field of energy between the European Commission and Azerbaijan in July 2022, which provides for doubling the capacity of the Southern Gas Corridor to ensure the supply of at least 20 billion cubic meters per year in the EU by 2027," Slovakia's Ministry of Economy added.

"Confidence is also expressed that the adaptation of Slovakia and its neighbors to the supply of blue fuel from the Caspian region will contribute to the achievement of diversification goals under the REPowerEU plan and "help Europe get rid of dependence on Russian gas," it added.

"By the Memorandum between the EU and Azerbaijan, Slovakia and other countries are ready to adjust the existing infrastructure in a cost-effective supply of additional volumes of Azerbaijani gas to Europe," the Slovak Ministry of Economy concluded.