PRAGUE — Prime Minister Petr Fiala has announced that Czechia will terminate its reliance on Russian crude oil by the middle of 2025, marking a significant shift in the nation’s energy policy.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, citing Czech Radio, the move follows productive discussions with executives from Mero, the state enterprise overseeing the country’s oil reserves. Prime Minister Fiala detailed that the cessation of dependency on Russian oil is contingent on the completion of the Italian TAL pipeline expansion project, which is expected to conclude by the end of this year. This development is poised to end a 60-year reliance on the Russian Druzhba pipeline. In the previous year, Czech refineries processed 7.4 million tons of crude oil, with approximately 58 percent sourced from Russia, while the remainder was supplied via Germany’s IKL pipeline, linked to the TAL pipeline.