World's Energy

19 February, 2009 – Upstream onLine – Slovak gas distributor Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel (SPP) signed agreements today with German companies E.ON Ruhrgas and Verbudnetz Gas (VNG) on future gas supplies contracts, an SPP spokesman said. The contracts will provide alternative gas sources after the disruption that occurred earlier this year when Russian monopoly Gazprom cut gas piped through Ukraine, according to spokesman Lubomir Tuchscher. The exact supply conditions have not been finalized, according to reports from Slovak state news outfit TASR. "Gazprom is to remain the main natural gas supplier for SPP," SPP chairman Bernd Wagner said. Wagner characterized the agreements as the first step to increase the energy security of Slovakia. Negotiations with other partners, including SPP supplier GDF Suez, will take place soon, Wagner said.