Radio Prague: Czech gas supply security will come at a price

Wanted? Dead or alive? The fate of the South Stream gas pipeline bringing Russian, or perhaps Caspian, natural gas under the Black Sea is still a moot point it seems.

Most European countries see the Russian sponsored pipeline link as a threat – it bypasses Ukraine and probably offers no new source of gas just more of the same – at best. There are some though, such as Hungary, who have been tempted to give their support to the project.

The Czech Republic in the meantime has its own pipe link problems and, maybe, pipedreams. For pipe problems read the ongoing difficulties building the STORK II Czech-Polish pipeline connection, a part of the strategic North-South corridor which should allow countries in Central Europe to source their natural gas from a new port terminal in Poland or Croatia. Czech gas pipeline operator NET4GAS and its Polish counterpart bid this year for European funds for the project but were disappointed by the outcome. Most of the EU funds are being channeled to Baltic countries where the gas supply threat is judged as much more serious than Central Europe. The Czechs and Poles were offered a bit of cash for ongoing project preparation and that’s it.

NET4GAS says it will apply again next year and hopes for a better outcome. At a conference in Prague last week company bosses were blunt in pointing out that there is no real commercial foundation for the pipeline line. In other words, if the Czech and Polish governments want it, they will have to find their own or EU funds to make it possible.  MORE