About the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is located in the geographic centre of Europe and is bordered by Poland, Slovakia, Austria and Germany. The Czechs are a Slavic people but their culture and history link them strongly to Western Europe.
The Czech Republic was previously joined in a federation with Slovakia (Czechoslovakia), which was under communist influence since 1948. Following the collapse of Soviet authority in 1987, Czechoslovakia gained its freedom through the peaceful “Velvet Revolution” of 1989 and returned to being a parliamentary democracy. On 1st January 1993 the country underwent a “Velvet Divorce” into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The Czech Republic was the first post-communist country to become a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and it joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. Since 1989 the Czech Republic has made significant economic progress and the country now has a functioning market economy. Most of the economy is now in private hands after several waves of privatization of formerly state-owned companies. The economy is performing solidly, with the country having attracted the most foreign investment per capita of any country in Central Europe.
The Czech Republic is acknowledged as one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. The country is heavily dependent on imported hydrocarbons; local consumption is far in excess of local production, with crude oil and natural gas imported largely from Russia.
Oil consumption statistics for 2004 (the latest figures available) show oil consumption was just over 203,000 barrels/day bbl/d whereas local production amounted to only 12,380 bbl/d (2005 production figures, no production data available for 2004). Similarly, natural gas consumption in 2004 was estimated to be 9.6 billion cubic metres while local production of natural gas reached just 216 million cubic metres.
To resolve domestic pollution and to bring industry emissions to European Union code standards the use of brown and black coals as a fuel has been curtailed and a greater use made of gas. An extensive gas distribution system, involving high and low pressure pipelines, extends across the Czech Republic. Third party access to this grid is guaranteed by legislation and connections exist to other parts of Europe. Producers feeding gas into the Czech grid are currently receiving an average price of A$8.63 per thousand cubic feet calculated into Australian dollars at an exchange rate of A$1=17.0 Czech Krone (CZK).
