Czech Republic could lose 1.5 billion crowns in oil dispute, warns State Material Reserves Administration chairman

The Czech Republic could lose up to 1.5 billion crowns in a dispute over diesel oil in German storage tanks of Viktoriagruppe, Pavel Švagr, the chairman of the State Material Reserves Administration said on Sunday. The diesel oil stored in Krailing, Germany alone was worth one billion, he explained in a debate programme on Czech TV. The dispute over ownership started after the launch of insolvency proceedings with the company. A preliminary insolvency administrator issued a verdict in January which said the diesel oil stored in Germany was not owned by the Czech state. According to Švagr, the potential damage is related to the loss of the diesel oil itself stored in the Krailing facility, plus claims on Viktoriagruppe due to unpaid invoices, worth around 200 million. During a meeting with Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven, the German Ambassador to Prague last week Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka asked German authorities for help with shipping the oil from Viktoriagruppe´s stores to the Czech Republic.

Author: Jan Velinger