Slovakia said to stay on sidelines of Ukrainian energy sector

Russian media reports Tuesday it was told by a Slovakian energy company it won't play a role in management of Ukraine's gas transit system.

The Ukrainian government last week said testing began to send 70 million cubic feet per day from Slovakia to Ukraine through the joint work of transit companies Uktransgaz and Eustream, a Slovakian energy company.

An unnamed Eustream spokesman told Russian news agency Itar-Tass it wouldn't play a management role in Ukraine.

"No one has asked Eustream to join the joint venture to manage Ukraine's gas transportation system," the spokesman said Tuesday. "Our company has not received such proposals."

The comments come as delegates from the European Union, Russia and Ukraine meet in Minsk with the goal of resolving a crisis brewing at least since November, when the government in Kiev started pivoting away from the Kremlin and toward the EU.

Russia meets about a quarter of Europe's gas needs, though most of the gas runs through the Soviet-era pipeline network in Ukraine. Lingering security and economic concerns in Ukraine have exposed risks to European energy.

In its own statement, the Slovakian energy company said the gas flow from Ukraine "is in normal mode."