According to Environment Minister Tomas Taraba, Slovakia is being forced to build quickly replacement infrastructure that will consolidate the country's energy stability after being disconnected from stable energy supplies as a result of sanctions imposed on Russia. He has said this in connection with the decision to build the LNG terminal in Bratislava. "From the point of view of gas supply stability, we need to build infrastructure regardless of anyone's opinion. My only concern is that technical solutions must be safe. I didn't come up with these sanctions that have harmed us," remarked the minister.
"I think Russia is having the best laugh today because it has tapped incredible revenues. The sanctions policy isn't working at all, and that is what I reproach the European Union for - that there is no retrospective evaluation of decisions when it's obvious that they haven't had the expected effect," said Taraba.
The minister opined that if some decisions turn out not to work after some time, they need to be changed. "The European Union promised to cut Russia off from some energy revenues. If you look at the figures, the Russians have revenues like they've never had, and Slovakia's standard of living and the competitiveness of our industry are victims of that," he added.
The Environment Ministry released the final consent opinion from the environmental impact assessment process and recommended the construction of an LNG terminal in Bratislava in March 2023. According to it, negative environmental impacts can be eliminated by certain measures. Greenpeace Slovakia and one other civil initiative later appealed against the final opinion.
(TASR)
