Russia's continued supply of oil via the Druzhba pipeline to the Czech Republic is due to payment issues related to US sanctions, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Czech Industry Minister Lukas Vlcek shared late on April 4 that the suspension of production was due to a payment issue between the owner of the Czech Polish refinery and Russian suppliers.
Previously, Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline was stopped for unknown reasons on March 4.
This interruption forced the refining company Unipetrol, owned by Orlen (Poland), to request exploitation of state reserves and the Czech government has agreed to supply the company with 330,000 tons of crude oil, CTK news agency reported on March 5.
Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that payments have stalled due to issues arising from the latest US sanctions package against Russia. As a result, Russia has canceled orders for the March delivery.
On March 4, Orlen said the company operated in accordance with the law and sanctions, but did not comment on the reason for the disruption of oil supply through the Druzhba pipeline.
Russia also suspended gas supplies via pipeline in December due to payment disputes.
Oil refining activities are still taking place at full capacity and Industry Minister Lukas Vlcek affirmed that there is no risk of shortage. He told Czech TV on 4/30 that the payment issue led to the suspension of supply but did not mention the sanctions.
Minister Vlcek said that the Czech Republic could switch to the TAL pipeline if the flow suspension through Druzhba continues.
The Czech Republic imports Russian crude through Druzhba and other crude through the TAL pipeline. TAL is an important oil pipeline connecting the Italian port of Trieste to Central Europe via Germany.
Thanks to the upgrading of the TAL pipeline, the Czech Republic can completely switch to using TAL's oil flow from July this year, ending demand for Russian oil imports. The contract between Russia's Rosneft and Orlen on oil supplies to Unipetrol expires in mid-2025.
The Druzhba pipeline is Russia's largest oil supplier to Europe. In Belarus, the Druzhba pipeline is divided into two branches: the northern branch leads to Poland and Germany; the southern branch passes through Ukraine to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The northern branch of the Druzhba pipeline has ended Russian oil transit after the EU imposed sanctions. Since the beginning of 2023, the oil flowing through the pipeline is Kazakhstan's oil.
