PRAGUE (AP) – The Czech Republic has boosted its energy by finalizing a plan to end the country’s dependence on oil imports from Russia, the government said Tuesday.
The Czech Republic previously received about half of its oil, or 4 million metric tons, through the Druhzba pipeline from Russia.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Russia’s imports are no longer necessary because the country “is able to get all its oil from the West.”
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The Czechs have invested more than 1.5 billion Czech koruna or crowns ($61 million) to double the capacity of Italy’s TAL pipeline to 8 million metric tons per year. A branch of the pipeline, which continues as IKL through Germany, serves the Czech Republic, or Czechia. That amount of imported oil will fully meet the country’s needs.
Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura said the Orlen Unipetrol refinery no longer plans to import any Russian oil, starting in the second half of the year.
The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary are the only remaining European Union member states that still receive oil from Russia. Some 24 EU countries have stopped buying Russian oil as part of EU sanctions following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Czech Republic already stopped importing Russian gas earlier this year.
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