PRAGUE: The Czech Republic has become fully independent of Russian oil for the first time ever following the launch of an expanded pipeline from western Europe, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Thursday.
The EU and Nato member of 10.9 million people signed a deal to expand the Transalpine Pipeline (TAL) from Italy in 2023, a year after Russia invaded Ukraine.
It used Russian oil until supplies via the Druzhba pipeline stopped in early March, two months after the TAL expansion had been completed.
“The first increased supplies arrived yesterday,” Fiala told reporters on Thursday.
“For the first time in history, the Czech Republic is fully supplied with non-Russian oil via the western route,” he added.
The 27-nation European Union moved to end its reliance on Russian fossil fuels following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The EU banned most oil imports from Russia, but Druzhba was exempted because the Czech Republic had few other options.
The Czech Republic has already completely weaned itself off Russian gas, and it expects to stop using Russian uranium for its two nuclear plants this year.
The expanded TAL pipeline will supply up to eight million tonnes of oil per year, which “will safely cover the Czech Republic’s consumption”, Fiala said.
TAL brings oil from the Italian port of Trieste to southern Germany, where it connects to the IKL pipeline to the Czech Republic.
The Druzhba pipeline was launched in the 1960s when former Czechoslovakia — comprising today’s Czech Republic and Slovakia — was part of the Soviet bloc.
TAL is owned by a consortium of eight oil firms, including Czech state-run company Mero and global giants Shell, Eni and ExxonMobil.
