(adds background on transit routes, paras 6-8)
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 combined billions ofdollars in 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, in which the stateowns 51 percent, posted revenue of 776.4 million euros and netprofit of 418.3 million euros last year.
If transit through Ukraine stopped, Slovakia could ship gasdelivered via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany,the Czech Republic to Slovakia and on to Austria and southernEurope, although the Slovak part of the route would be muchshorter compared to the current one from Ukraine.
It was not immediately clear if Fico meant he believed somegas will keep flowing through Ukraine, or if the Slovak transitcountry status would be maintained by the shipments via theCzech Republic.
Eustream said in June it had assurances from Gazprom thatthe entry point from Ukraine to Slovakia would remain fullyfunctional even if Nord Stream 2 is built.
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, editing by David Evans)