The Czech Republic has ramped up imports from Russia despite the EU-wide sanctions against Moscow, news portal Ekonomickydenik reported on Tuesday, citing official statistics.
According to the report, the volume of imports jumped by 11.4% in the first half of 2024 in annual terms, to $1.5 billion. The growth was mainly due to an increase in Russian gas supplies.
Czech purchases of natural gas from Russia surged eightfold year-on-year in the first half of the year, reaching $370 million.
The Czech Republic’s primary import items from Russia are oil, natural gas, and nuclear fuel to run its two nuclear power plants. It also imports Russian aluminum, nickel, synthetic fertilizers, and metallurgical products.
Indirect imports of Russian gas have also reportedly increased somewhat since last October. This occurs when the Czech Republic buys surpluses from Austria, Hungary and Slovakia – all three of which are heavily reliant on gas from Russia. Czech traders do not currently have any contracts with Russian gas major Gazprom.
The Czech Republic, a NATO member, has been among the most vocal critics of Russia in the EU amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Aside from upholding all of the EU’s sanctions, sending military aid to Kiev and limiting trade with Moscow, Prague has gone as far as to completely cease visa and residency permits for Russian citizens, save for a few exceptions.
Since the start of the Ukraine conflict, Prague has been seeking to wean itself off Russian gas and has turned to Norway and the US for supplies. The latter ships LNG that is mostly received at a terminal in the Netherlands.
However, the economic attractiveness of Russian gas has increased in light of current tariffs for transporting Norwegian gas and American LNG, Ekonomickydenik wrote. The cost of such shipments by sea to EU terminals has moved significantly higher of late, it added.
The report also showed that the volume of exports from the Czech Republic to Russia has continued to decrease. However, indirect imports to Russia via third countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Armenia have been on the rise, according to the report.