Moscow, Dec 6 (IANS/TASS) Russia and Slovakia signed a new oil supply deal Friday, which provides for an annual pumping of up to six million tonne of oil to Slovakia through the Druzhba pipeline.
The same amount of Russian oil will run in transit through Slovakia to other European countries.
The agreement was signed by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Slovak Economy Minister Pavol Pavlis.
Novak said that the agreement was strategic in nature and aimed to strengthen cooperation between Russia and Slovakia in the oil sphere.
He added that the two ministers also discussed gas supplies from Russia to Slovakia, and cooperation in the field of electric power industry.
The new deal, which will replace the previous agreement expiring Dec 31, will be in force from January 2015 until the end of 2029, and will be automatically prolonged every five years.
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A draft intergovernmental agreement to supply Russia's oil to Slovakia was approved by the Russian government Oct 30.
Novak had said earlier that he expected the deal to be signed before the end of the year.
He however, did not specify which Russian oil companies would supply oil to Slovakia.
--IANS/TASS
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