Prague will start negotiations with Germany on the release of Czech oil reserves
The Czech Republic will negotiate with Germany on the release of oil reserves located in Bavaria. The Czechia has part of its oil reserves at the German company Viktoriagruppe, which has filed for insolvency.
According to Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Pavel Švagr, Chairman of the State Material Reserves Administration (SSHR), proposed further action in this matter at the meeting, with which the Security Council agreed. “We will negotiate with the German government, because there is an international agreement that gives the Czech Republic the right to request the release of Czech property, which is currently located in Germany,” said the Prime Minister. Sobotka appreciated that SSHR also solves other contracts that it has and that are disadvantageous for the state.
State already in November, he removed his fuel from the Czech warehouses of the Viktoriagruppe company. It ended up in the tanks of the state-owned company Čepro. The situation is more complicated in the warehouses in Krailling, Germany, where the Viktoriagruppe can store fuel on the basis of an amendment to the original contract concluded in 2010.
There are still Czech emergency supplies in Bavaria and the SSHR has not yet agreed on their removal with the Germans. According to the SSHR, she argued before the insolvency firm, for example, that it had a broken siding, which is necessary for the transfer, and that it did not have a new one worth 45,000 euros. SSHR must prove to the current insolvency administrator that the oil already belongs in the warehouse. The brother-in-law has already met with representatives of the Federal Ministry of Economics due to the case.
Stocks for two days
The state has oil reserves for about 95 days, 90 are required. The Viktoriagruppe has stored oil for 2.5 days, of which Germany should currently have reserves for about two days.
On Monday, the State Security Council also discussed several strategic materials, including the Czech Republic’s security strategy submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the national cyber security strategy for 2015-2020 and a proposal for measures to increase security at Prague’s Václav Havel Airport. She also discussed the refugee assistance program. The government should receive the materials at some of the next meetings.