Czech Republic makes pivotal shift with Algerian gas imports
The Czech Republic is still striving towards independence from Russian energy resources. As of October, however, the country has made progress in terms of gas supply. The country has a new gas supplier, and it's the first from Africa.
Last month, the Czech Republic started importing natural gas from Algeria, as reported by the company ČEZ. The gas is delivered via pipelines through Tunisia and Italy. The volume of imports meets the needs of approximately 100,000 households, stated a spokesperson for the Prague-based Czech energy company.
The supplier is the Algerian state-owned company Sonatrach. "We have taken another step to increase our energy security," commented Daniel Benes, CEO of ČEZ, as quoted by the Saudi Al-Arabiya news service.
The Czech Republic also imports gas from Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands. It aims to reduce Russia's budget from the sale of natural gas by diversifying supply sources and conserving energy resources.
In 2023, Czechs consumed 6.77 billion cubic metres of gas, a decrease of 10.4% compared to 2022, reports the Arabian portal.
Billions of euros into Putin's "wallet"
The Czech journey towards independence from Russian energy is still long. This also implies not providing Vladimir Putin's regime with funds for military aggression.
In October, the Centre for Energy and Clean Air Research from Helsinki and the Centre for the Study of Democracy from Sofia published reports indicating that from the start of the invasion on 24 February 2022 until the end of June 2024, Czechs paid Russians 7 billion euros (5.8 billion pounds) for gas and oil, additionally generating 2.3 billion euros (1.9 billion pounds) in tax revenues for the Kremlin.
It's worth noting that Czechs, along with Slovaks and Hungarians, still benefit from exemptions from EU restrictions on purchasing Russian energy resources.
"We have managed to significantly reduce imports of Russian energy raw materials into the European Union, but we need to continue this effort," wrote Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela to European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson in September.
