The Czech Republic will no longer be importing oil from Russia, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Thursday at the opening ceremony for a new connection to the Transalpine Pipeline (TAL) in Nelahozeves in the north of the country.
The new pipeline will start supplying the country with crude brought into the Italian port of Trieste on the Adriatic coast. The pipeline’s capacity was increased as part of the TAL-PLUS project.
“This is a truly historic moment, as after 60 years our dependence on Russia is finally at an end. This is important and good news. Russia will no longer be able to blackmail us with a halt to oil supplies,” Fiala said at the ceremony.
No oil had in fact been flowing through the Druzhba Pipeline, which had for decades supplied the country with Russian oil, since March 4. The reason given was problems with making payments for the oil as a result of US sanctions on Russian banks imposed following the invasion of Ukraine.
The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary were granted an exemption from European Union sanctions on Russia to allow them to continue to receive Russian oil.
The other two countries plan to continue taking Russian oil, according to Hungary’s MOL oil and gas company, which supplies them.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (C), Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura (R), and MERO Director General Jaroslav Pantucek speak at a press conference in Nelahozeves, north of Prague, marking the completion of the TAL-PLUS pipeline project. At the opening ceremony of the new connection to the Transalpine Oil Pipeline (TAL), Fiala announced that the Czech Republic will now receive oil exclusively from Western sources. —/CTK/dpa
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