A Russia-Slovakia pipeline to be built

The presidents of Russia and Slovakia have confirmed their commitment to constructing an additional pipe run from Russia to Europe. “Russia currently exports nearly 130bn cubic metres of natural gas annually and is planning to raise this figure to 204bn,” Russia’s President Vladimir Putin told journalists after his talks with the President of Slovakia. At that, “it is not meant to bypass Ukraine of any other country,” President Putin emphasized. According to Mr. Putin, there are good prospects for Russia and Slovakia to cooperate, especially in machine-building, military technology, and in the sphere of culture. The commodity turnover between the two countries has reached $1.6bn. Besides, there are many Russian-Slovak joint projects which play an important role in cooperation with the united Europe.