Come to bratislava for xmas, Wien is too chaotic :)

Bratisalva christmass market



pictures from Bratislava (1 day old)


Plus Forced smile competition between Robert Fico (Slovakia's PM)
and
Vladimir Putin russia's ehm master of puppets or every other job he likes.

Don't you just hate trade missions...

Slovak PM meets Vladimir Putin (Russian PM) about joint gas venture to link Austria to russian gas

Slovak PM meets Vladimir Putin (Russian PM) about joint gas venture to link Austria to russian gas. The Slovak side seems to want to incentivise Russia through a 3-party win-win.

What is being proposed is to link the Austrian market to the soviet era pipeline that ends in Bratislava. This pipeline only needs a few kilometers of extension to be linked to the austrian market and network.

Click on the map to see more detail:



Slovakia will gain by giving Russia a big reason not to cut supply to europe as it would inconvenience more european countries.

Below there is a video talking about the fledgling deal:

In related news: According to the European Union energy commisioner gas consumers won’t suffer if Ukraine starts another transit war with Russia this winter.

Kiev blocked transit pipelines from Russia last January in a payment row, leading to power cuts across the EU. But Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs says they've agreed ways to avoid Ukraine altogether.

AP: “Our gas storages are 100% full, we've increased all types of switching opportunities for countries which can't cover gas for a very long period. We also have emergency plans if they are needed. On the Russian side I believe there are also plans for increasing supply from other pipelines if there is a problem with one of them. During January there will be more gas flowing through the Yamal Europe pipeline. So it is important that both sides reunite and that the final consumer does not feel threatened at all.”

More background on the pipeline and it's significance (from wikipedia):

Druzhba pipeline (Russian: нефтепровод «Дружба»; also had been referred as the Friendship Pipeline and the Comecon Pipeline) is the world's longest oil pipeline, it carries oil some 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) from southeast Russia to points in Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Germany.^[1] The name "Druzhba" means "friendship", alluding to the fact that the pipeline was intended to supply oil to the energy-hungry western regions of the Soviet Union, to its "fraternal socialist allies" in the former Soviet bloc, and to western Europe. Today, it is the largest principal artery for the transportation of Russian (and Kazakh) oil across Europe.

History

On 18 December 1959, the 10th session of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), held in Prague, adopted a decision and an agreement was signed on construction of a trunk crude oil pipeline from the USSR into Poland, Czechoslovakia, GDR and Hungary.^[2] Each country was to supply all necessary construction materials, machinery and equipment. In 1962, first oil reached to Czechoslovakia, in September 1963 to Hungary, in November 1963 to Poland, and in December 1963 to GDR. The whole of the pipeline was put into operation in October 1964. The first oil pumped through the Druzhba pipeline originated from the oil fields in Tatarstan and Samara (Kuybyshev) Oblast. In 1970s the Druzhba pipeline system was further prolonged at the expense of parallel lines.^[3]

Route

The pipeline begins from Almetyevsk in Tatarstan, southeastern Russia, where it collects oil from western Siberia, the Urals, and the Caspian Sea. It runs to Mozyr in southern Belarus, where it splits into a northern and southern branch. The northern branch crosses the remainder of Belarus across Poland to Schwedt in Germany.^[2] It supplies refineries in Płock and in Schwedt. The northern branch is also connected by the Płock-Gdansk pipeline with the Naftoport terminal in Gdansk, which is used for oil re-exports.^[4] In Schwedt the Druzhba pipeline is connected with the MVL pipeline to Rostock and Spergau.

The southern branch runs south through Ukraine. In Brody the Druzhba pipeline is connected with the Odessa-Brody pipeline, which is currently used to ship oil from the Druzhba pipeline to the Black Sea. In Uzhgorod the pipeline splits into lines to Slovakia (Druzhba-1 - original Druzhba route) and to Hungary (Druzhba-2). The line through Slovakia is divided once again near Bratislava: one branch leading in a northwest to Czech Republic and the other going southward to Hungary. The Druzhba-1 pipeline branches off toward Hungary at Ipeľ, crosses the Hungarian border at Dregelypalank and leads to Százhalombatta.^[2] In Hungary, the Druzhba-1 pipeline supplies Duna refinery while Druzhba-2 supplies Duna and Tisza refineries.^[5]

The Mažeikių refinery in Lithuania and Ventspils oil terminal in Latvia are connected to the main pipeline by the branch pipeline from Unecha junction in Bryansk Oblast. This branch has ceased operation in 2006 and is not likely to become operational in any time soon.

The part of Druzhba pipeline system, which runs via Belarus, is 2,910 kilometres (1,810 mi) long. The length of the pipeline in Ukraine is 1,490 kilometres (930 mi), in Poland in 670 kilometres (420 mi), in Hungary 130 kilometres (80 mi), in Lithuania 332 kilometres (206 mi), in Latvia 420 kilometres (261 mi), and in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic together around 400 kilometres (250 mi).^[2][6]

Technical features

The Druzhba pipeline currently has a capacity of 1.2 to 1.4 million barrels per day. Work is currently underway to increase this in the section between Belarus and Poland. The pipe diameter of the pipeline varies from 420 millimetres (17 in) to 1,020 millimetres (40 in).^[3] It uses 20 pumping stations.

Operators

The Russian part of the pipeline is operated by the oil company Transneft through its subsidiary OAO MN Druzhba. In Belarus the operator is Gomeltransneft Druzhba, in Ukraina UkrTransNafta, in Poland PERN company, in Slovakia Transpetrol, in the Czech Republic Mero and in Hungary MOL.^[7]

Proposed extensions

[edit] Schwechat (Austria)–Bratislava Oil Pipeline

Schwechat–Bratislava two-way oil pipeline project was proposed in 2003. It would allow to supply the OMV owned Schwechat Refinery from the Druzhba pipeline.^[7]

Gas, Putin, and EU. Russia turns the gas back on in all probability on Monday

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom said it’s ready to resume supplies of natural gas to Europe from Russia once an EU-brokered accord on monitoring transit via Ukraine is enacted, potentially ending days of disruption amid freezing temperatures.

Russia’s state-run gas exporter will restart shipments “when the observers are in place,” Sergei Kupriyanov, Gazprom’s spokesman, said by text message today.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, acting for the European Union, secured a three-way agreement enabling monitors to check flows into Ukraine’s pipelines from Russia. Gazprom, supplier of a quarter of Europe’s gas, halted transit on Jan. 7, accusing Ukraine of siphoning fuel after it cut supplies to Russia’s neighbor amid a price and debt dispute. Ukraine denied the charge.

If all “goes well”, the monitors may be in place today, Topolanek told reporters in Prague today. The EU, Russia and Ukraine agreed to provide as many as 25 observers each to the mission.
“Ukraine is going to have to put its cards on the table,” Ronald Smith, chief strategist with Moscow-based Alfa Bank, said today. “It will be apparent who is telling the truth. With the monitors it will be very clear what’s going on. On the pricing side there’s no reason for Ukraine not to pay market-based prices for its gas.”

Serious Situation
Once gas starts to flow in Ukraine, it may take about 36 hours for it to reach EU states, where in some the situation is “serious,” Topolanek said. The Czech Republic has called an energy council meeting for all EU members tomorrow in Brussels, Industry Minister Martin Riman said.
E.ON AG expects full deliveries of gas three days after the fuel enters Ukraine, Kai Krischnak, spokesman for the German utility’s Essen-based E.ON Ruhrgas AG gas division said today. E.ON has “no information” on when Gazprom plans to resume shipments, he said. Poland is yet to receive any news on when supplies may flow via Ukraine, Joanna Zakrzewsk, a spokeswoman for Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo SA, said today.

The shutdown renewed calls in the 27-nation EU to develop nuclear power and alternative sources of energy. Fuel supplies are dwindling as temperatures as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Balkans spur energy demand.
“Ukraine signed the protocol so that Ukraine is not a barrier for Russia to resume gas deliveries to the European Union,” Timoshenko told reporters after the accord’s signing during the night.

No Confirmation
Gazprom is yet to receive “even a copy” of the document signed in Kiev, the company said in a statement today. Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller said yesterday flows would resume once the gas producer received confirmation that Ukraine had signed the accord. Czech Prime Minister Topolanek, whose country holds the EU’s sixth-month rotating presidency, said today the agreement is being distributed.

European monitors started arriving in the Ukrainian capital two days ago as they sought to defuse the dispute that has affected at least 20 countries.

One group of observers arrived today in the eastern city of Luhansk near a compressor station and one is en route to a station in the northern town of Sudzha, Valentin Zemlyanskyi, a spokesman for state-run energy company NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy, said by phone today. Three other groups should be in their posts in the south and west of Ukraine by 6 p.m. tonight, he said.
Gazprom’s European customers receive 80 percent of supplies through pipelines that cross Ukraine. Gazprom halted transit flows on Jan. 7, cutting overall deliveries to Europe were cut by about 60 percent, after accusing Ukraine of diverting gas intended for other buyers for its own use, a charge denied by the country. Supplies from Russia to Ukraine itself were suspended Jan. 1 pending a new contract.

The Slovak government yesterday approved the restart of a nuclear reactor, in the face of opposition from the European Union, to meet the country’s energy needs as the halt in Russian gas supplies continued.

Prime Minister Robert Fico told reporters the move would be for a “necessary” period until the gas market stabilizes. The reactor in Jaslovske Bohunice was closed Dec. 31 as part of the conditions imposed on Slovakia when it joined the EU.