Energy resilience under pressure: imports from Slovakia continue despite Fico’s statements
Ukrenergo has confirmed: commercial electricity supplies from neighboring countries are operating as usual. We explain why this is important for grid stability and what risks remain.
By Tetiana Suchkova-Ladik
February 24, 2026 · 2 min read
What happened
Ukrenergo reported on the morning of 24 February that commercial electricity imports from Slovakia to Ukraine are continuing as usual. The announcement came against the background of public statements by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who on 23 February promised to stop emergency supplies in response to the halt of Russian oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline after the strike on Brody on 27 January 2026.
Ukrenergo's official position
"Electricity imports are being carried out from all EU countries bordering Ukraine and from Moldova in accordance with the results of auctions allocating available cross-border transmission capacity"
— Ukrenergo, morning briefing
The key message from Ukrenergo is that commercial flows and market mechanisms (capacity auctions) continue to operate independently of individual political statements.
Why this matters for Ukraine
First, imports via Slovakia are not the only source: the import network includes several neighbors and Moldova. Second, emergency assistance from Slovakia was delivered rarely and in small volumes, so its suspension, according to Ukrenergo, will not have a significant impact on the overall resilience of the power system. This means that systemic operations and market procedures currently matter more than high-profile political statements.
What the parties and independent sources say
"...the pipeline is actually operating, and Ukraine is deliberately not restoring the transit."
— Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia
SEPS, the Slovak transmission system operator, has not sent official documents to Ukrenergo about a unilateral termination of the emergency assistance agreement; SEPS's press service has so far refrained from comments to LIGA.net. This is important: legal and technical steps in the energy sector differ from political public statements.
Political background and risks
Individual political decisions in the region already have real consequences: Hungary, in response to the halt of transit, blocked the agreed €90 billion loan and the 20th sanctions package against Russia; Slovakia and Hungary also temporarily halted diesel deliveries. This shows that energy and finance remain instruments of pressure.
Conclusion
The current situation demonstrates two things: first, market mechanisms and technical procedures are still ensuring supplies; second, political decisions can quickly change the terms of cooperation if there is no transparent legal formalization and diplomatic guarantees. Therefore, the task for Ukraine's partners is to turn operational statements into written guarantees and contracts that will remove risks and support the resilience of the network in the medium term.
Energy market analysts emphasize: short-term stability is preserved, but strategic security requires more — coordinated political decisions and technical guarantees.
