Grosuplje - Slovenia rejects paying for Russian gas supplies in roubles, nor does it accept Russia's engaging in extortion, Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec said on Friday. He assessed the prospects for a diversification of gas supply as good, while saying there were presently no reasons to limit use.

Vrtovec said during a government visit to central Slovenia that the EU was united in its rejection of paying for Russian gas in roubles as demanded by Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We will not accept paying in roubles and the same applies to extortion," the minister said.

Meanwhile, Slovenia's largest natural gas trader Geoplin said for the business paper Finance on Thursday that all of its commitments to Russian energy giant Gazprom as laid down in a long-term contract from 2018 were fulfilled, meaning a potential suspension of natural gas supply to Slovenia after 1 April was not anticipated.

Geoplin moreover told the N1 web portal that a potential switch to rouble payments that would result from a unilateral decision by one of the parties to the contract would be unacceptable. "We are following the developments and are also drawing up appropriate exit scenarios," the company added.

Minister Vrtovec pointed out today that the gas pipelines in this part of Europe were carrying almost exclusively Russian gas and that this also applied to the gas Slovenia was importing via Austria - these imports accounted for 91% of all imported gas in 2020, while the majority of the rest came directly from Russia.

Thus Slovenia is looking for options to diversify, with Vrtovec feeling chances for diversification to happen before the end of the year are good. He pointed to talks held in recent days with players from Austria, Italy, Croatia and Qatar.

Vrtovec will continue on Monday the conversation with Croatia on the chances of gas imports from the Krk island and on potential Slovenia-Croatia cooperation in the construction of a second nuclear reactor in Krško, Slovenia. He will meet Croatian Minister of the Economy and Sustainable Development Tomislav Ćorić on Krk.

Vrtovec said the main issue was the lack of capacities, of LNG terminals, in Europe. Still, things are presently sufficiently under control for not having to worry even about next winter, the minister assessed.

As regards the chances of Slovenia following the example of Germany and Austria, which have activated the first stage of emergency plans for gas supply, Vrtovec Said the ministry was joining the calls for a frugal approach to energy use, while it saw no need for drastically limiting it.

Slovenia also has an emergency protocol, with the third stage involving a state of emergency and a scenario where providers suspend contracts that can be suspended and order electricity producers to switch to an alternative energy product. Gas supplies are limited in the process.