BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. The Czech MERO ČR, which is the operator of Czech oil pipelines, has reached an agreement with the shareholders of the Transalpine Pipeline (TAL) to increase its capacity, which will allow the country to effectively diversify the sources of oil production, Trend reports with reference to TASS.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala told reporters after talks with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni that the project should be implemented in 2024.
"MERO has reached an agreement with the shareholders of the TAL to increase its capacity. The corresponding agreement between [both sides] will be signed in May," Fiala said.
The PM said earlier that the Czech Republic will overcome its dependence on oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, one of the biggest crude oil pipeline networks in the world, by 2025.
Increasing the capacity of this pipeline will allow the country to receive 7-8 million tons of oil annually.
Over the next year and a half, work will be carried out to expand the capacity of the TAL oil pipeline. The estimated costs will amount to about 65 million euros.