CEO Ireneusz Fąfara told Polish state news agency PAP that the move will come after the expansion of pipeline infrastructure in the Czech Republic.

“The Orlen Group is well-prepared to completely abandon Russian oil, which is currently processed only by the refinery in Litvínov-Záluží [owned by Orlen] in the Czech Republic. The key is the expansion of the transmission infrastructure in the Czech Republic, which is the main constraint for abandoning this country’s import of Russian oil,” said Fąfara.

Pipeline operator MERO ČR, a Czech government-owned company, is responsible for expanding the transmission infrastructure.

The expansion of the pipeline in the Czech Republic will enable more oil imports from the south and allow the landlocked country to become less dependent on crude supplies from Russia. This project is expected to be finalized in 2025.

Fąfara said that crude oil from Russia was not being used in Polish refineries.

He added that Orlen had already done everything it could to make the refinery in the Czech Republic independent of raw materials from the east.

He said: “Tests are being conducted at the Litvínov plant, during which blends of non-Russian crude are being successfully processed.”

“This confirms that the refinery can process only non-Russian crude. The other Czech plant owned by Orlen Group, located in Kralupy does not use Russian crude at all.”

Meanwhile, on Monday, Orlen announced that it had concluded a contract with the British global oil and gas behemoth BP for the supply of 6 million tons of crude oil from Norwegian deposits in the North Sea.

The supplies are expected to cover roughly 15% of Orlen’s annual demand for crude oil.

The first tanker with the contracted crude oil will arrive at the Baltic port city of Gdańsk in northern Poland next month.