Czechia's Russian Oil Reliance Increases Despite Sufficient Global Supply Options, Report Finds

Czechia oil refineries generated over a billion euros in profits by taking advantage of discounts on Russian fuel, despite having viable alternatives and no pressing need to rely on it.

Experts revealed that this year, Czechia spent over €7 billion on Russian oil and gas, more than five times the amount of aid it provided to Ukraine, which totaled €1.29 billion.

This was stated by Politico, citing a report by the Center for the Study of Democracy and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

"It's important to note that Russian oil is imported by a private company Orlen Unipetrol," said the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade. "The government does not have direct control over private business decisions."

It was noted that this situation became possible since the EU granted Czechia an exception to the ban on Russian oil imports following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The purpose of this exception was to provide landlocked countries with additional time to secure alternative fuel supply routes.

Despite the government's stated intention to phase out Russian oil, Czechia's reliance on it actually increased to around 60% in 2023. Although this figure has dropped by 50% this year, the analysts of the report argue that the global market has more than enough capacity for Czechia to fully eliminate its dependence on Russian oil.

"Czechia could secure normal supplies of non-Russian crude oil by taking advantage of the spare capacity on the Trans-Alpine pipeline bringing oil from the Italian port of Trieste, the Adria pipeline connecting to Druzhba in Slovakia and by increasing refined products imports and petroleum stocks withdrawals,” stated Martin Vladimirov, Director for energy and climate at the Center for the Study of Democracy.

Czechia remains one of Ukraine’s closest allies since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. During the European Council summit in February 2024, Czechia introduced the initiative to supply Ukraine with artillery ammunition purchasing it from non-EU countries. Thanks to the Czech ammunition initiative, ammunition has been delivered to Ukraine on a consistent basis.