Meeting of the Economic Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of Visegrád Countries, 23-24 October 2022, Bratislava


The National Council of the Slovak Republic, which holds the Presidency of the Visegrád Group (V4) from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, hosted a meeting for the Economic Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of Visegrád countries on 23-24 October 2022 in Bratislava. The event, hosted by Peter Kremský, Chair of the Economic Affairs Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, was attended by representatives of the relevant committees of all V4 parliamentary chambers. The Committee on Economics of the Hungarian National Assembly was represented by Gábor Riz, member of the Committee.

Participants covered three agenda items at the event. First, the energy security of the EU and the V4 was discussed, with presentations delivered by Karel Hirman, Minister of Economy of the Slovak Republic, Rastislav Ňukovič, General Director of EUSTREAM (operator of the natural gas transmission network in the Slovak Republic) and Peter Dovhun, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Slovak Electricity Transmission System (SEPS). This was followed by a discussion on how to tackle energy prices, with an opening presentation by Andrej Juris, Chairman of the Regulatory Office for Network Industries. Finally, opportunities for regional cooperation were also covered, with Andrej Stančík, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, and Alexander Matušek, President of the Automotive Industry Association of the Slovak Republic, offering some food for thought. In addressing the agenda items, representatives informed participants about the steps taken by their countries to ensure energy security, diversify energy sources and make electricity and gas prices affordable for the general public. During the professional dialogue that emerged, speakers and representatives reached a consensus on many issues. They shared a view on, for example, the importance of increasing LNG capacities.

Gábor Riz reported that Hungary booked a capacity of up to 1 billion cubic metres per year at the Krk LNG terminal in Croatia. Rastislav Ňukovič considered that opportunities for the V4 to increase their LNG capacities include the expansion of the Krk terminal, the construction of the Gdańsk terminal and imports from the terminal in Germany. They also agreed that nuclear energy has a key role in the energy supply of all 4 countries. When presenting the operation of the Slovak Electricity Transmission System, Peter Dovhun expressed their gratitude for the excellent cooperation with their partner organisations in the other 3 Visegrád countries (including MAVIR in Hungary). The delegations formulated their position on the topics covered at the meeting in a final document adopted jointly during the event.

+ Photos (the National Council of the Slovak Republic)
+ Conclusions