BRATISLAVA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Slovakia will remain a gastransit route even if Russia's Gazprom and itsEuropean partners build the Nord Stream 2 pipeline bypassingUkraine, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said late onThursday.
Russia currently ships natural gas via Ukraine and Slovakiainto western Europe but seeks largely to bypass the route from2019, which would deprive both countries of millions of dollarsin transit fees.
"We can't look at Nord Stream 2 unbiased because Slovakiawould lose about 800 million euros ($903.52 million) if theRussian gas flow to western Europe stopped," Fico told reportersafter meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
"If the project is indeed built, and it looks more realisticthan not, we have to prepare. The only thing of interest to meis whether the pipeline dries up or not," Fico said.
Slovakia's gas transit firm Eustream, where the state owns51 percent, posted 418.3 million euro profit after tax lastyear.
Gazprom and its European partners, including E.ON, Wintershall, Shell, OMV and Engie, agreed on the Nord Stream 2project last year. It is designed to double the amount of gasRussia pumps to Germany, via the Baltic Sea.
Central and east European countries and the United Stateshave said the pipeline could limit supply routes and reduce theenergy security of the EU, which gets a third of its gas fromRussia.
The EU has yet to rule on whether the pipeline would run upagainst its antitrust rules.
Poland's antimonopoly office blocked the consortium'sclearance last month, forcing Gazprom's Western partners to seekalternative ways to fund it. (Reporting By Tatiana Jancarikova)