Slovakia will seek an exemption from any embargo of Russian oil agreed by the European Union in its next set of sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, Slovakia's Economy Ministry said on Tuesday.
The European Commission is preparing a sixth package of sanctions against Russia and is expected to finalise work on Tuesday.
Two EU officials said on Monday the EU executive may spare Slovakia and Hungary from an embargo on buying Russian oil, mindful of the two countries' dependence on Russian crude.
Slovakia gets nearly all of its imported crude from Russia, and the country has said it had reserves for 120 days.
"If it comes to an approved embargo of Russian oil as part of a further package of sanctions against Russia, then Slovakia will request an exemption," the ministry said in a reply to Reuters questions.
The ministry said processing of different types of oil was not immediately possible and that a switch of technology was difficult financially and time-consuming.
"Therefore we request a longer transition period for oil transported by pipeline," the ministry said.
(Reporting by Robert Muller in Prague, Editing by Louise Heavens and Nick Macfie)
