New oil deal pulling Russia away from Eastern Europe

When the world was divided by the Iron Curtain, any independence movement in Eastern Europe triggered the dispatch of Soviet tanks and violent military repression in the name of communism. The operation in which Prague officially bids farewell to Russian oil from the pipeline in recent days Druzhba (ironically his name means friendship) it apparently marks the definitive expulsion of the Czech Republic from the Muscovite sphere of influence, without creating any winds of war between Russia and the rest of the world. From 2025, Tal Group will supply the Czechs with crude oil, a German giant that manages more than 750 kilometers of pipelines from the port of Trieste to Ingolstadt in Bavaria and transports just under 40 million tons of oil per year.

The deal was announced recently by Czech prime minister Petr Fiala in the town of Kralupy nad Vitavou, a few dozen kilometers from the capital. It is not a negotiation between Tal Group and Mero ČR (Czech oil company) that, after more than a year of “intensive preparatory work” (as defined by Tal’s managing director Alessio Lilli), reorganized alliances in Central and Eastern Europe. only economically. Defining this as a “strategic project”, Fiala closed an era by talking about “energy security and independence”. The Transalpine pipeline (managed by three separate companies in Italy, Austria and Germany) will supply the Czech Republic with approximately eight million tons of oil per year, thus fully meeting the country’s crude oil needs.

The marriage celebrated between Tal and Mero speaks German and was born not so symbolically as the divorce Prague has demanded. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the consequent Western sanctions created an unprecedented energy crisis in which all (or nearly all) world governments had to hide. Details of the operation provide information on “replacement and modernization of pumps and motors for transporting crude oil”, an investment that fluctuates between 50 and 70 million euros. According to Tal, the volume of oil transported from Trieste to the Czech Republic will increase from 6,400 to 7,500 cubic meters per hour. Last year, Mero ČR asked Putin for 56 percent of its crude oil needs, more than imported in 2021. “The project ensures independence from Russian oil,” said Jaroslav Pantucek, CEO of Mero ČR.

The movement should be read in the context of economic-political relations and common interests. The Czech oil company has been sitting at Tal’s table with a five percent stake since 2012. Oil companies OMV, Shell, Rosneft, Italian ENI, C-Blue, Exxon, Connoco and Total sit at Mero’s desk as shareholders. The Transalpine pipeline (which was the target of an attack claimed by the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September in August 1972) carries 90 percent of Austria’s oil needs and 100 percent of southern Germany’s oil needs. From 2025, Prague will also depend on crude oil discharged from the port of Trieste.

Source: Today IT

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