Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced this week that the country is now fully independent from the Druzhba oil pipeline for the first time in 60 years. The Czech Republic has started receiving increased shipments of non-Russian oil via the Transalpine (TAL) pipeline. On April 16, the first shipment of oil arrived at a terminal in Trieste, Italy, and was subsequently transported to a central oil storage facility outside Prague, where it will be sent to a local refinery.
According to Fiala, the Czech Republic can now receive up to eight million tons of oil per year from Western pipelines, which is expected to cover all the country’s refinery needs. “We’ve taken another step toward our energy independence,” Fiala said, explaining that the move strengthens Czech energy security by reducing reliance on Russian supplies.
Previously, the Czech Republic relied on two main sources for oil. The Druzhba pipeline from Russia accounted for 42 percent of imports in 2024, while most other supplies arrived through the German IKL pipeline, which connects to Italy’s TAL pipeline.