The Visegrad countries are neither large producers nor consumers of energy. Coal is the single abundant fossil fuel in the region, with only Poland and the Czech Republic having significant quantities. In 2003, coal accounted for 45.3 percent of the Visegrad countries total primary energy consumption. The Visegrad countries import most of their crude oil and natural gas requirements, mainly from Russia. This dependence on Russian natural gas and oil imports has also been a point of contention for these countries, particularly Poland, which experienced a natural gas supply cut-off in February 2004. Furthermore, as the Visegrad countries privatize their energy markets in line with EU directives, some government officials have argued against giving up control in state energy companies, claiming that privatization not only could compromise national energy security, but also increase Russian-based companies control through acquisition. During the past decade, the Visegrad countries have diversified their energy supplies to reduce their dependence on Russia by connecting national oil and natural gas networks to Western Europe. The strategic importance of the Visegrad countries, however, lies largely in the crude oil and natural gas pipelines which traverse the region on their way to Western Europe.
The Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline transports Russian crude oil to the Visegrad countries and onward to Western Europe. The pipeline splits in Belarus into northern and southern branches. The 1-million-bbl/d capacity northern branch brings oil to Poland and Germany. The 1.2-million-bbl/d capacity southern branch splits in Uzhgorod (Ukraine), with one section going through Slovakia and the Czech Republic and the other section going to Hungary, where it connects to the Adria pipeline. The Adria pipeline in turn transfers oil to Serbia and to Croatia. In December 2002, the governments of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia signed an agreement to integrate and expand the capacity of the Druzhba and Adria pipeline systems in order to facilitate the transportation of Russian crude oil to the Croatian deepwater port of Omisalj. However, the 110-mile segment of the Adria mainline between Omisalj and Sisak, Croatia, can only accommodate imports. This section would need to be reconstructed in order to allow both the importing and exporting of crude oil.
The Odessa-Brody pipeline was constructed by the Ukrainian government several years ago. It runs through Ukraine, from the Odessa Black Sea maritime terminal in the south to the Brody connection with the Druzhba pipeline in the north. The original idea in building the pipeline was to allow oil from the Caspian Sea region to be transported to Brody, for Druzhba pipeline shipment to Slovakia, Hungary, and onward. There had also been discussion of extending the Odessa-Brody pipeline to Gdansk, Poland, allowing Caspian crude oil to reach Poland, Germany, and the Baltic states. However, Ukraine had not signed up any shippers before building the pipeline and it wound up sitting idle for three years. At this point, the Ukrainian government arranged for Russian oil companies to run the pipeline in the opposite direction, taking their oil south from the Druzhba connection at Brody and transporting it to Odessa for loading onto tanker ships in the Black Sea. The Ukrainian oil company Naftogaz Ukrainy announced in March 2005 that the Russian shippers were not supplying as much oil to the pipeline as they had agreed to.The pipeline reversing agreement had been arranged for up to 0.2 million bbl/d. In February 2005,Ukraine set up a working group with Poland to plan for running the pipeline in the original direction and extending the northern end into Poland. It has been estimated that it would cost $400-$600 million to build the pipeline extension, and Ukraine would have to pay $100 million to TNK-BP to reverse the line. Polish pipeline operator PERN has estimated that once the project is funded it could come on stream within three years. It is not clear whether the project will move forward in the near future.
The Visegrad region is a key transit center for Russian natural gas exports to Western Europe. The Yamal-Europe pipeline, which is routed through Belarus and Poland to Germany, is Russias only natural gas export pipeline to Europe that does not cross Ukrainian territory. The importance of gas pipelines was highlighted on January 1, 2006, when Gazprom briefly reduced gas supplies to Ukraine as part of a pricing dispute. Gas resumed its flow as soon as a new price was agreed, but the downstream supply disruption in Western Europe underscored the need for pipeline supply alternatives. The Yamal-Europe pipeline has a capacity of 1.1 trillion cubic feet per year (Tcf/y). Most of this natural gas is destined for German markets. A second natural gas pipeline, the Yamal II, had been planned, but the pipeline has not been formally approved. If built, the combined annual capacity of the two pipelines would be 2.3 Tcf/y. The Brotherhood and Soyuz natural gas pipelines that pass through Ukraine to Slovakia have capacities of about 1 Tcf/y each. The natural gas that transits Slovakia represents about 25 percent of the natural gas consumed in Western Europe and about 70 percent of the Russian natural gas exported to Western Europe. In 2003, Slovensky plynArensky priemysel (SPP), the operator of Slovakias natural gas grid, reported that 2.36 Tcf transited the country onto Western Europe.
The Visegrad region shares the CENTREL electricity system, which links the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. In 1995, the CENTREL system was connected with Western Europes grid. Poland also has electricity connections with Ukraine and Belarus. Currently, both north-south and east-west connections are being expanded, as part of the EUs Trans-European Energy Network project, including a new link to Lithuania. The four countries of the region are also members of European electricity transmission system Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE). UCTE coordinates the interests of transmission system operators in 20 European countries.