The Czech Republic is after 60 years independent of Russian oil, supplied by the western road
Increased supplies of non -Russian oil arrived.
Prague. The Czech Republic is about 60 years independent of Russian oil from the Druzhba oil pipeline and for the first time in history, it is fully supplied exclusively to non -Russian oil oils TAL and IKL.
The Czech Prime Minister announced it at the central pumping station in Nelahozevsi Petr Fiala. To achieve independence from Russia In the case of oil, the Czech Republic managed to do thanks to the Tal-Plus project, informs TASR newsletter in Prague.
Milestone in strengthening safety
« This is a truly historical moment, because after about 60 years our dependence on Russia has definitely ended, and this is important and good news. Russia can no longer blackmail us by stopping supplies, » said Fiala, saying that this is an important milestone in strengthening the security of the Czech Republic.
Tal and consequently IKL can flow to the Czech Republic eight million tonnes of oil per year, which, according to Prime Minister, covers the consumption of the whole country.
The Czech Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura pointed out that the entire investment, approximately 1.6 billion crowns (more than EUR 64 million), was invested by the state -owned company Mero from its own resources without the participation of the state budget. According to him, the project was implemented in a record time. « The news of whether the Russian oil pipeline will flow or will not flow, although they are interesting, but they are no longer important to the Czech Republic, » Stanjura said.
The first increased supply of non -Russian oil from the Italian port in Trieste arrived according to the CEO of Mero Czech Republic Jaroslav Pantůček to the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
« It is the first oil to replace the outages of the Druzhba oil pipeline system. Already this afternoon, Mero of the Czech Republic will start transporting the oil to its owner, ie Orlen Uniperrol to the refinery in Litvín.
« It remains pressurized, is ready for potential operation in case of our customer’s interest. We are wondering what to do with him, we want to use it correctly, » he added.
Import of oil products
However, the Czech Republic still needs to import some oil products from other countries, because in the case of fuel, two Czech refineries cannot cover all consumption. “The market of the Czech Republic is deficit in fuel, about a third are imports. However, these imports are conditioned by the fact that products produced and imported to the Czech market come from non -Russian oil.
So potential imports, for example from Slovakia, are possible provided the refinery in Slovakia would produce products from non -Russian oil. This means that it would be supplied with the Adria pipeline, ”he said.
The first negotiations on the Tal Pipeline Expansion project started in 2015. In May 2023, a contract was signed and the first construction work began, which ended in January this year.
