Karate black belt, Jaroslav Pantucek does not fear hard battles. Like the one that led him to officially decree the end of Russian oil in the Czech Republic, after a long dependence of 60 years.
“When I arrived at the office on March 4 and my colleagues announced me” that no drop of crude came from Russia, “I praised a historical moment,” the head of the Mero Public Group told AFP, which exploits the pipelines of the country of Central Europe.
The culmination of a long battle began one day in 1997. “I introduced myself to the work interview with a black butter eye”, after a real fight, he has the customary manager of the Tatamis, who is now 65 years old.
The stairs quickly climbed and when he took the controllers in 2005, the need to get rid of Moscow is already in all minds. The agency dates back to the communist era: in the 1960s, Czechoslovakia was linked to the oil of drugs that transported Russian oil to Europe.
A race against the clock
But fail deliveries to the regime in 1989 and the country’s division four years later caused a beginning.
In 2008, Russia suddenly reduced the candle and then sought to diversify its supply sources. Jaroslav Pantucek has views of the consortium that handled the pipeline, transporting from the Italian port of Trieste to Brut imported from the Caspian Sea region, the Middle East and North Africa. Address of Germany, where it is connected to the Czech Republic by the IKL pipe. “We bought a 5% participation at the end of 2012 after three years of difficult discussions. It was a great success,” recalls Jaroslav Pantucek.
Downloaded by Mero By Power in 2015, it returns shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. And there is a race against the clock that is involved with, as a objective, zero fall of Russian oil.
Although the European Union has gradually reduced the participation of Russian oil in its gross imports, from 27% to early 2022 to 3%, the 10.9 million Czechs have long benefited from an exemption due to their geographical inmate. A beautiful stay to prepare the rest. How to survive without Russian black gold? At that time, the Czech Republic still receives almost 60% of its oil through Drugba.
“A great cultivation shock”
The only solution is Dopy’s capacity as much as possible to guarantee the 8 million tons necessary for annual national consumption. And convince the members of the consortium, including world giants Shell, ENI and Exxonmobil, to change the exchange rules, immutable for decades. “It was a great cultural shock,” he said.
A commitment indicated by Mero that proposed a new state of the art bombs and finally obtained the green light to write a contract, validated after seven months after many modifications at the request of the other parts. Another challenge is to adapt the Czech refineries to non -Russian oil mixtures with a lower sulfur content, from Azerbaijan, from the North Sea, Saudi Arabia or Iraq. “We did everything possible to prepare everything before the end of 2024,” said the manager, who feared a delivery delivery of Moscow before the group was ready.
The head of Mero almost reached the deadlines, since the withdrawal entered into force at the beginning of March 2025. At the retirement age, Jaroslav Pantucek is serene, even if the possible return of the billionaire Andrej Babis at the head of the country, accompanied by the usual waltz of the positions, the end of his career could sound. “I threw my mission,” he said, and “I can leave myself quiet.”
Source: BFM TV
