According to the Economic Journal, the main cause of the decline is the failure of Russian gas supplies to Central Europe via Germany. According to the current statement of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO), the loss was already calculated at the time of purchase, and an increase in gas transportation is expected in the future.
NET4GAS operates 4,000 kilometers of gas pipelines, five compression stations and a hundred transfer stations, including three at the border. The company was bought by the state-owned ČEPS at the end of the year last year. They will pay a maximum of five billion crowns for the indebted company, but the final amount will depend on the management of the company and the fulfillment of the set economic parameters.
NET4GAS CEO Andreas Rau described last year as the most difficult in the company’s history. “The reason is the unprecedented and dramatic change in gas flows in Europe, which was mainly caused by the war in Ukraine and the complete collapse of payments by our main trading partner. Thanks to our immediate cost-saving measures and the great commitment and support of all NET4GAS employees, we managed to mitigate the negative effects at least to some extent,” said Rau.
According to the company’s data, the total transportation of natural gas reached approximately ten billion cubic meters in 2023. Compared to 2022, the total transport thus decreased by 20.8 billion cubic meters of gas. According to Rau, the decrease was mainly caused by the absence of Russian gas transportation through the territory of the Czech Republic and other changes in gas flows in Europe, which are a geopolitical consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gas transportation in the country decreased year-on-year by 0.7 billion cubic meters last year to 6.8 billion cubic meters. According to the company, above-average temperatures and the ongoing savings of customers were mainly reflected in the Czech Republic.
A Russian court has banned a Czech company from conducting arbitration proceedings against Gazprom in the Czech Republic
Economy
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO), last year’s economic result is not a surprise due to the drop in transport, and was therefore already included in all the expert opinions that the state based its decision on the acquisition of NET4GAS. According to the department, the current drop in transport is a consequence of Russian Gazprom’s breach of obligations, from which the company wants to recover CZK 70 billion in arbitration. In the future, MPO expects a further increase in the volume of transport in connection with the increased production of electricity and heat from gas.
“The purchase of the NET4GAS company is a long-term investment motivated by the expected increase in the volume of gas transportation through the Czech Republic and at the same time and above all the possibility to invest in the development of this gas infrastructure so that it corresponds to further developments in the field of energy, for example in terms of adapting to the development of hydrogen,” the Ministry for ČTK said . According to the authority, by the end of 2023, the company had almost nine billion crowns at its disposal.
NET4GAS holds an exclusive license for natural gas transportation in the Czech Republic. It controls the gas system in the event of an emergency and announces regulatory levels, thereby deciding on gas supplies to customers. Any problems with the NET4GAS pipelines would fundamentally jeopardize gas supplies to the country.
ČEPS completed the takeover of NET4GAS Holdings
Economy
