The Czech Republic intends to become independent of gas supplies from Russia and counts on Poland's support in this matter.

This was announced on April 29 at a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala.

“We are a country that, in some aspects, unfortunately, is heavily dependent on supplies from Russia.

We are more than 90% dependent on gas supplies from Russia.

We want to become independent of fossil fuels from Russia, but for this we will need the help of other countries.

Here, Poland can lend a helping hand to us,” he said.

In particular, Prague and Warsaw may resume negotiations on the construction of the Stork II gas pipeline, the head of the Czech government said.

“This is the topic that a few years ago appeared in our conversations.

Unfortunately, here we can sprinkle ashes on our heads - we Czechs.

This topic has been a little forgotten, but we would like to return to this, to the topic of building the Stork II,” Fiala emphasized.

Recall that the Stork II gas pipeline is a project that Prague froze a few years ago.

It was supposed to combine the gas transmission systems (GTS) of Poland and the Czech Republic, increasing their throughput by 2023 and increasing the reliability of transportation.

However, in 2020, the Czech GTS operator Net4Gas announced the suspension of its participation in the project due to the fact that Stork II was not included in the list of projects of common European interest and applying for an EU subsidy.

  • Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic and Poland Piotr Fiala and Mateusz Morawiecki

  • AP

  • © Czarek Sokolowski

During his current speech at a press conference, the Czech prime minister noted that his country is interested in diversifying gas supplies, namely, in purchasing LNG from Poland, which is currently building a terminal for liquefied gas.

At the same time, according to Fiala, Prague categorically refuses to pay Russia for gas in rubles, as required by Moscow.

“If we talk about payments in rubles, then the Czech Republic is not going to succumb to Russia's blackmail.

Error if some countries and companies agree to this.

This is a breach of sanctions.

It's dangerous," Fiala said.

In turn, Mateusz Morawiecki confirmed Warsaw's readiness to assist Prague in overcoming dependence on Russian energy resources.

“We will try to cooperate with the Czech Republic and jointly develop appropriate mechanisms that will help the Czech Republic to endure this difficult period - to cut the Russian umbilical cord and stop dependence on Russia,” the Polish prime minister wrote on Twitter after the press conference.

The politicians also agreed that their countries would create a working group to respond to a possible cessation of oil supplies from Russia.

It is planned that it will include representatives of ministries and companies involved in the supply.

As Piotr Fiala recalled, Polish firms own key refineries in the Czech Republic.

“We talked about how to solve a potential situation in which it comes to the suspension of oil supplies from Russia to the Czech Republic.

We received a guarantee from the Polish side that Poland and the Polish company PKN Orlen would be ready for such a situation.

We will be able to respond to it quickly and dynamically,” said the head of the Czech government.

Difficult situation

Currently, the EU is actively discussing an embargo on Russian energy resources.

Some countries support this initiative, others talk about the impossibility of abandoning oil and gas from Russia in the short term.

There is no unity among the EU countries on the issue of paying for Russian gas in rubles.

Recall that on March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that defines a new procedure for paying for Russian gas supplies by buyers from unfriendly countries: from April 1, payments for blue fuel must be made in rubles.

To do this, foreign buyers need to open ruble and foreign currency accounts with Gazprombank.

According to the scheme, first the money is transferred to a foreign currency account, then the bank on the Moscow Exchange exchanges these funds for rubles, after which they are credited to the ruble account.

After that, the foreign partner will be able to transfer rubles directly to the gas seller.

Despite the initial negative reaction of Western countries to the proposed payment scheme, some European states nevertheless agreed to switch to a new payment mechanism.

In particular, we are talking about Austria, Hungary and Germany.

However, now these countries are subjected to constant criticism from Brussels.

Thus, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on April 8 in an interview with CNN that the sanctions that were adopted by the EU against Russia are allegedly violated in this way.

“We analyzed Putin's decree, and from a legal point of view, everything is clear.

What Putin is proposing (transferring euros to rubles and then paying for gas) is a violation of sanctions.

If you do this, if you pay in rubles, then this is a circumvention of sanctions, ”says the head of the EC.

  • RIA News

  • © Vitaliy Timkiv

political maneuver

Experts interviewed by RT believe that the Czech Republic's attempts to abandon Russian energy resources are doomed to failure, since the country does not have alternative suppliers that would provide it with the necessary volumes of fuel.

“Simply declaring the unwillingness to pay for gas in rubles is more about politics than about energy.

Moreover, Poland cannot provide any serious long-term assistance to the Czech Republic, ”said Sergei Pikin, head of the Energy Development Fund, in an interview with RT.

According to him, all Poland's claims to declare itself independent of Russian gas are fiction, since de facto it continues to use fuel from the Russian Federation, simply "obtaining it indirectly."

“Poland, having refused the services of Gazprom, receives gas in reverse from Germany, that is, it de facto buys the same Russian gas.

Therefore, when they say that Poland has abandoned Russian blue fuel, you need to understand that all this is very conditional, ”the expert emphasized.

However, this still gives Warsaw some grounds for political statements, while Prague cannot rely on the same reverse, since it does not have relevant agreements with Berlin, the analyst added.

In turn, Deputy Director General of the National Energy Institute Alexander Frolov, in a conversation with RT, recalled that the cooperation in the energy sector being considered by the Czech Republic and Poland appeals to the plans long discussed in the EU to create a single energy space, within which all EU countries will receive equal access to energy resources.

However, for this it is necessary to build interconnectors - gas pipelines connecting the gas transportation systems of different countries, the expert explained.

“It is noteworthy that the EU plans to create interconnectors began to stall in the mid-2010s due to their complete senselessness.

So, it is not possible to solve the problem of gas supplies to the Czech Republic from alternative suppliers due to the fact that its GTS will be connected to the GTS of Poland.

However, for some reason, the Czechs believe that if they build the infrastructure, then everything will work.

Although, first of all, it is necessary to negotiate with suppliers, ”the expert emphasized.

In addition, according to Frolov, Warsaw will not supply gas to Prague free of charge.

“Therefore, when reselling gas purchased from the side, whether it be pipe or LNG, they will charge a completely market price, or even a little higher, in order to earn on this process,” the analyst concluded.