The Future of the Druzhba Pipeline as a Strategic Challenge for the Czech Republic and Poland

The Druzhba pipeline is one of the most important energy infrastructure projects in Central and Eastern Europe, supplying the European part of Russia's former Soviet bloc with oil since the second half of the last century. The future of the pipeline has become uncertain in recent years. The further use of Druzhba is in doubt mainly due to the difficult relations of the Russian Federation with transit countries, and its possible termination is indicated by Moscow's change in its export strategy, namely increasing crude oil exports via sea terminals, at the expense of pipelines. The authors focus on how a potential curtailment of oil supplies by Druzhba can affect the energy situation of the two customer countries, i.e. the Czech Republic and Poland. Also, the text offers answers on many questions, such as Is there a danger of curtailment of the supply of oil via Druzhba to the surveyed countries? If so, what might be the mid-term implications of the situation, economic, security or other? Which actors will be affected by potential supply curtailment and how? The study focuses on the impact on economic entities (firms), the state and even households to a limited extent.