Is the Czech government reneging on its promise to wean the country off its dependence on Russian gas because some traders have started buying gas that is likely of Russian origin in late 2023? No, that's not true: the Czech Republic has shifted nearly all natural gas purchases to producers in Norway and the Netherlands using pipelines in Germany to deliver gas to the country. According to the Czech Industry and Trade Ministry, the Czech Republic has enough supplies of non-Russian gas for the coming winter and does not need the Russian commodity, even if some traders recently imported small amounts of Russian-produced gas through pipelines in Slovakia.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on November 29, 2023, when a speaker said in comments translated into English from Czech by Lead Stories staff:
Russian gas has flowed into the Czechia again and the five-party coalition government's long-standing statements about how the Czech Republic will do without Russian gas have turned to dust.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Dec 6 12:19:00 2023 UTC)
Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela wrote on his X account on November 25, 2023, that some traders started importing an amount of Russian gas starting in October which so far represents 1.2 percent of total gas supplies for the year 2023.
Sikela added that these purchases do not change the fact that the country has "definitely" rid itself of its dependence on the Russian commodity.
In an article published by Seznam Zpravy news website on November 28, 2023, energy consulting firm Egú Brno explained that the small purchases of Russian gas lately were carried out by traders who saw a business opportunity and they had no impact on the country´s energy security. None of the traders entered contractual relationships with Gazprom, the Russian gas firm, or committed to long-term purchases of Russian gas, according to Egú Brno.
The Czech Republic has managed to reduce its dependence on Russian gas from almost 100 percent at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 to nearly nothing. Prime Minister Petr Fiala commented recently on deals that would further ensure reliable and sufficient supplies to replace those from Russia, saying:
After acquiring the capacity of the LNG terminal in the Netherlands, we managed to secure capacity in the German terminal Stade as well. Together with the purchase of gas storage tanks and gas pipelines, we fundamentally increase the possibility of transporting and storing natural gas from reliable suppliers, and at the same time we fulfill the government's program statement and my personal vision of Restart the Czech Republic.
The agreements in the Netherlands and Germany and gas imports from Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium leave the country well-stocked for winter without the need for Russian gas.
