Russian oil was previously supplied to an Orlen refinery in the Czech Republic. This cooperative relationship has existed since the Soviet era. When the conflict broke out in Ukraine more than three years ago, Warsaw has proactively stepped up efforts to end its dependence on Russian energy.
The suspension of dependence on Russian gas has been facilitated in Poland thanks to the country's investment in the construction of the Baltic gas pipeline connecting to Norway. The pipeline went into operation in October 2022, helping Poland immediately end its imports of Russian gas.
However, finding an alternative to Russian oil is more difficult, with oil from Norway having to be transported by ship to Naftoport in Gdansk.
Russian oil is transported via the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline, a heritage from the Soviet era, to Orlen's refinery in litvinov, Czech Republic under a 12-year contract with Rosneft, a Russian state oil giant. This contract is now out of effect.
The Druzhba oil pipeline supplies oil to many landlocked Central European countries such as Slovakia and Hungary. In the context of a lack of alternative sources, the EU has exempted the transit of Russian oil on the Druzhba pipeline. With no pipeline infrastructure to the Baltic Sea or Northern Europe for Central European countries, Druzhba has been a key oil supplier for decades.
Orlen has stopped importing Russian oil to refineries in Poland and Lithuania since March 2023. However, Orlen's subsidiary Unipetrol in the Czech Republic continues to receive Russian oil under the old contract, with import volumes increasing in 2023.
CEO Orlen Ireneusz Fafara said that the complete suspension of oil imports from Russia is the result of close coordination between Orlen, the Polish government and infrastructure partners in the region.
We end our dependence on Russian energy largely thanks to the support of the Polish government and effective cooperation with partners, especially transmission system operators. Thanks to that, we can import oil and gas from other directions," he said.
Orlen also stressed the role of the Transalpine pipeline (TAL) carrying oil from the Italian port of Trieste via Austria and Germany to the Czech Republic in helping the company convert supply. The Czech pipeline operator MERO has used the EU-granted exemption to upgrade the system, thereby completely replacing Russian oil with crude oil transported by sea.
Orlen has also renovated litvinov refinery, which previously only processed blended oil according to Russian standards, to be able to process many different types of crude oil, thereby increasing access to global supply.
