For the first time in its history: Czech Republic feels free from Russian oil
17 April 16:42
For the first time in almost 60 years, the Czech Republic has become independent of Russian oil supplies and is already being supplied exclusively with non-Russian oil. This was reported by the Czech state-owned pipeline company MERO ČR, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
This became possible thanks to the TAL-PLUS project, which involves the modernization of the Transalpine Oil Pipeline and has been promoted by the government of Petr Fiala since November 2022. The project has increased the transportation capacity of this European oil pipeline, allowing the Czech Republic to pump up to 8 million tons of oil per year via the western route. This fully covers the country’s annual needs.
The state pipeline company reported that the first increased supplies of non-Russian oil have already arrived from the Italian tank farm in Trieste to the Central Oil Tank Farm in Nelagozeves, from where it will be transported to the Litvinovský refinery. This finally confirmed that the Czech Republic, after almost sixty years of dependence on Russian oil from the Druzhba pipeline, has become energy independent.
How the Czech Republic managed to achieve this
“The Czech Republic is going to refuse energy resources from Russia and become an energy independent state within five years.” This statement was made by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in June 2022.
At the time, Petr Fiala explained that the Czech Republic could not afford to remain 100% dependent on one unreliable supplier. Therefore, according to him, the government has drawn up a plan to achieve energy sovereignty over the next five years. Actually, it happened much earlier.
However, the Czech Republic began working to overcome its dependence on Russian oil back in 1994 with the start of construction of an oil pipeline connecting the Czech oil infrastructure with the Western oil pipeline network.
The first negotiations on the TAL-PLUS project began in 2015, and they were only extended in 2022. That’s when the new government of Petro Fiala announced its intention to gain energy independence from Russia.
The maximum capacity and throughput that would allow replacing the Druzhba pipeline was reached at the end of 2024.
What about Russian oil supplies to Europe?
Russia supplies oil through Ukraine via the Soviet-built Druzhba pipeline, the southern branch of which connects Russian oil fields with refineries in Hungary and Slovakia, and until recently, the Czech Republic.
In December 2024, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated that Ukraine was forced to continue transiting Russian oil in accordance with the European Energy Charter.
He explained that Ukraine could not yet violate the Association Agreement and therefore technically continued transit at the request of the European side. However, according to the Prime Minister, work is underway to impose 100% sanctions on the transit of Russian oil.
In 2024, Russian oil supplies through Ukraine’s pipeline system decreased by 15% to 11.5 million tons (230.3 thousand barrels per day). RBC-Ukraine reported this with reference to Russian information sources.
Hungary accounted for 42% of supplies, which were stable last year and amounted to 4.8 million tons. Exports to Slovakia dropped by 13% to 4 million tons, while supplies to the Czech Republic fell to 2.7 million tons.
The northern branch of the Druzhba pipeline goes to Poland and Germany from Belarus. As reported by Reuters, Germany and Poland stopped buying oil from Moscow in 2023 because of the war against Ukraine. Now Germany receives oil from Kazakhstan via this route. Last year, this Central Asian country exported 1.5 million tons of oil to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline.
It has also been reported that Europe continues to buy Russian oil, but not directly, but through India. There was information that last year 20 out of 27 EU countries bought Russian oil through India.
