"We do not need Russian gas supplies to the Czech Republic and have easily created reserves for this winter without it. Despite this, since October, some trading firms have begun to supply us with gas from Russia," he said.
The minister added that the import of Russian gas to the EU countries is not subject to sanctions, since a number of countries still cannot do without it.
Earlier, Deputy Minister of Industry of the Czech Republic René Nedela said that the Czech Republic would support Slovakia's request to extend the EU permit for the import of Russian fuel in order to avoid a sharp rise in the price of petroleum products.
Prior to that, Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said that Slovakia intends to oppose the inclusion of Russian nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants in the 12th package of Western sanctions against Russia.
The minister stressed that Slovak nuclear power plants at the moment cannot switch to fuel that will be an alternative to Russian.