The Czech state-run Mero energy firm said Tuesday it has signed a deal to end the country’s dependence on Russian oil, more than a year into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mero will finance a $73 million expansion of the Transalpine oil pipeline (TAL), which supplies oil from the Italian port of Trieste to central Europe.
The Czech Republic‘s TAL capacity will now double to an annual eight million tonnes of oil starting 2025.
“This deal is our future, it will sever us from Russia after a long 60 years and help us achieve independence, freedom and sovereignty in energy supplies,” Mero chief executive Jaroslav Pantucek told reporters.
The EU member of 10.5 million people already weaned itself off Russian gas earlier this year.
The Czech Republic’s two refineries received 7.4 million tonnes of oil last year — 56 percent of it from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline.
The EU slapped a ban on most oil imports from Russia in May 2022, three months after Russia invaded Ukraine, but the Druzhba pipeline was exempted.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Tuesday the exemption gave Prague time to negotiate the TAL deal.
He hailed the agreement as “a major step, a milestone for our energy independence from Russia”.
Launched in 1967, TAL is owned by a consortium of eight oil firms, which in addition to Mero also include Shell, ENI and ExxonMobil.
TAL transports oil from Italy to southern Germany, from where it then travels to the Czech Republic and Austria via other pipelines.
