'Bratislava shooting itself in the foot,' says Kyiv, as Slovakia walks away from emergency electricity imports to Ukraine

Politics 'Bratislava shooting itself in the foot,' says Kyiv, as Slovakia walks away from emergency electricity imports to Ukraine March 4, 2026 8:36 pm • 3 min read by Dominic Culverwell As Slovakia's grid operator says it will terminate a deal with Kyiv and cut electricity exports, Ukrainian officials say it's Bratislava that will suffer. "We can only congratulate Bratislava for preparing to shoot itself in the foot. Or rather in the feet of its own energy companies," Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi told the Kyiv Independent in a written statement. "Ukraine purchases the electricity and does not receive it for free. So the Fico government will simply deprive Slovak companies of earnings, while Ukraine will receive this electricity from other sources," he added. SEPS is expected to immediately cut supplies to Ukraine's state-grid operator, Ukrenergo , following threats from Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico last week, according to Slovakian media Tasr. Become a member – go ad‑free SEPS, however, hasn’t yet sent an official notice to Ukrenergo, its Ukrainian counterpart, Ukrenergo's CEO Vitaliy Zaichenko told the Kyiv Independent. Even if it does, the impact would be minimal as Ukraine doesn’t depend on Slovakian energy supplies, he added. Tensions center on the Druzhba pipeline, a major route supplying Russian crude through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia . The pipeline has been offline since late January following a Russian drone strike. Slovakia and Hungary have accused Ukraine of withholding transit for political reasons, claims Kyiv rejects . Fico then escalated by threatening to cut emergency power supplies to Ukraine on Feb. 21 and Feb. 23 unless oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline resumes. It was not clear if Slovakia had followed through on the threat last week. Ukraine hasn’t had to purchase Slovakian electricity, which only makes up 17-19% of emergency energy imports, since January, said Zaichenko. Become a member – go ad‑free ...