BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 8. Energy is among the most promising areas of cooperation between Slovakia and Azerbaijan, Zuzana Pelakova, Director of Economy and Business Program of GLOBSEC, a global think-tank based in Bratislava, told Trend.
“For Slovakia, natural gas imports are the clear priority. Gas flows from Russia through Ukraine stopped in 2024 after an understandable decision by the Ukrainian side, and the Slovak economy, which relies heavily on natural gas, is now seeking ways to diversify its supply. The main constraint lies in infrastructure. Pipelines from Türkiye through the Balkans and further north are fully booked. Slovakia is ready to diversify, but the physical bottlenecks need to be addressed first,” she said.
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) delivered natural gas to Slovakia’s SPP, the country’s largest state-owned energy supplier in throughout December 2024.
Gas supplies, which began on December 1, 2024, were conducted under a short-term pilot agreement between SOCAR and SPP.
As for green energy cooperation, Pelakova pointed out that Slovakia already exports heat pumps to Azerbaijan, which play an important role in reducing emissions when powered by low-carbon electricity.
“Slovakia itself has one of the cleanest electricity mixes in Europe thanks to its strong nuclear sector, and it is set to become the country with the highest share of nuclear energy in the world,” she said, adding that Slovak companies active in the nuclear energy field would be ready to share their experience and cooperate.
Further, Pelakova went on to add that although Azerbaijan is Slovakia’s main trading partner in the Caucasus, overall economic cooperation is still quite limited.
She believes that Azerbaijan’s eventual accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) would open the door to deeper trade ties.
Pelakova also highlighted the importance of development of the Middle Corridor for strengthening the regional economic ties.
“Infrastructure remains the main obstacle to stronger economic cooperation, especially in the energy sector, but also in many other areas. For this reason alone, the Middle Corridor would be important regardless of its link to Central Asia. The current Slovak government is working to strengthen ties with Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan,” she concluded.
The latest data from Azerbaijan’s state customs committee reveals that export to Slovakia in the first ten months of 2025 stood at $564 780, while imports from this country totaled more than $36.139 million.