Slovakia has started testing a reverse gas flow that aims to help supply neighboring Ukraine with badly needed natural gas.
Slovak company Eustream confirmed on August 16 that a compressor station near the town of Velke Kapushany started pumping gas into the Uzhgorod-Voyany pipeline earlier in the day.
Work recently finished on that pipeline so that it could carry gas eastward instead of westward.
Ihor Prokopiv of Ukraine's Ukrtransgaz said the test showed the pipeline could supply some 2 million cubic meters of gas daily.
Eustream said barring any unforeseen problems the pipeline could carry a maximum of some 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Ukraine.
The controversial reverse-gas-flow plan was put together by the European Union and Ukraine after it became apparent Russia would either seriously reduce or cut off entirely gas to Ukraine for domestic use.