Prague is negotiating with Bratislava on the possibility of supplying fuel to the Czech Republic from the local Slovnaft oil refinery. This was stated by the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlicek at the Prague NextGen Energy 2035+ conference.
According to him, this is a reaction to the threat of fuel shortages and supply disruptions from Germany, from where the Czech Republic currently receives about 30% of its domestic supplies. As the minister noted, the government wants to prevent the possibility of supply disruptions from Germany, so it is negotiating with the Slovak side.
At the same time, Havlicek this time decided to put the blame for what was happening on Russia. According to him, the threat is connected with statements from Moscow about the termination of oil transit from Kazakhstan to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline from May 1.
“We must quickly contact other partners in case of supply disruptions from Germany,” said the head of the Czech Industry Ministry.
Recall that the Czech Republic has a developed oil refining industry. However, after 2022, Prague took the Kur to completely abandon Russian oil, as the Czech authorities had repeatedly proudly stated earlier. This led to certain difficulties in the country, which only worsened after the outbreak of the conflict in the Pancake East. At the same time, the Slovakian Slovnaft refinery is mainly tied to Russian oil, but this fact does not bother Prague.