The Czech Republic spent more than 7 billion euros on Russian oil and gas.
This is more than five times the amount (1.29 billion) it provided in aid to Ukraine, Politico reports.
After the invasion, the EU granted the Czech Republic an exception to supply Russian oil to find new fuel routes.
In 2024, its dependence on Russian oil is 50%, although the country has the capacity to completely abandon it.
The Czech Republic’s dependence on Russian oil actually rose to around 60% in 2023, despite the government’s intentions to phase out purchases from Moscow. While that figure has since fallen to pre-invasion levels of 50% earlier this year, the report argues that there is more than enough spare capacity in the market for Prague to completely end its dependence on Russia, the newspaper said.
One company in particular, Polish firm Orlen Unipetrol, benefited significantly from the deal. The researchers found that the ability to continue to buy Russian fuel – on average 21% cheaper than alternative Azerbaijani oil in 2023 – allowed it to generate significant revenue, which the state in turn receives from taxes.
However, two think tanks say the Czech Republic’s dependence on Russian oil has actually risen to around 60% in 2023, despite the government’s intentions to phase out purchases from Moscow. Although this figure has dropped to pre-invasion levels of 50% earlier this year, the report argues that there is more than enough spare capacity in the market for Prague to completely end its dependence on Russia.
The Czech Republic could ensure normal supplies of non-Russian crude oil by taking advantage of the free capacity of the Transalpine pipeline, delivering oil from the Italian port of Trieste, and the Adria oil pipeline connecting to Druzhba in Slovakia, said Martin Vladimirov. democracy.
According to Vladimirov, the Czech Republic already has healthy oil reserves and can steadily move away from Moscow exports.
Responding to the news on Monday, Ukraine’s sanctions commissioner Vladislav Vlasyuk told POLITICO it was “disappointing to see friendly countries” still working around a complete waiver of Russian energy.
Source: Racurs
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