Czech EPH Sees No Impact from More Gazprom Access to German Pipeline

Czech closely-held energy group EPH does not expect a negative impact from a European Commission decision to allow Gazprom to ship more of its gas from the Nord Stream pipeline into the Opal link in Germany, EPH said on Tuesday.

EPH, via its EPIF subsidiary, co-owns and operates Slovak pipeline operator Eustream which mainly brings gas from Russia through Ukraine to western Europe. It may thus suffer from lower volumes if Gazprom ships more via Nord Stream and Opal.

"Given the existing ship-or-pay contracts and the development of real gas flows we do not expect any material impact on Eustream and EPIF," EPH spokesman Daniel Castvaj said.

If Russian shipments via Ukraine drop, Eustream may potentially get alternative revenue from shipping more gas in the opposite direction from the Czech Republic through Slovakia to Austria, or to Ukraine.

(Reporting by Jan Lopatka)