Prague - Money from oil mining is changing southern Moravian villages which are lucky enough to have the oil extracted on their territory.
The money the villages get from the oil mining company Moravské naftové doly (MND), owned by tycoon Karel Komárek, is used to build new roads, wastewater treatment plants and housing projects, and to renew schools.
Uhřice, where oil has been extracted since 2001, will open a new water park in the summer. The village with 700 inhabitants will invest CZK 38 million in total, but it did not have to take a loan: The project will be covered by oil money.
"We would not be able to afford the water park without the money from oil mining," says Zdeněk Klesl, the mayor of Uhřice, one of the villages responsible for the whole region being dubbed Moravian Dallas or Kuwait.
The villages get three-quarters of a 5% contribution from the sales of oil extracted in the locality.
In Dambořice, local officials have repaired two local schools and built three new apartment buildings with the oil money.
The budgets of the "oil" villages are ten times bigger than those of the neighbouring villages where oil reservoirs were not found. "It is millions or dozens of millions of crowns every year," said Dambořice mayor Josef Kratochvíl.
Dambořice with about 1,300 inhabitants has donated CZK 3 million to the hospital in Kyjov for a new tomograph. The village has already invested CZK 96 million-worth of oil money.
Oil mining output in the Czech Republic fell to 252,000 cubic metres last year from 291,000 cubic metres in 2006.
MND is the largest oil and gas mining company in the Czech Republic. It is using 21 localities with daily output of some 6,000 barrels of oil and gas. The group also runs an underground gas tank with a capacity of 180 million cubic metres.
MND is planning test holes in the vicinity of Lanžhot, Nový and Starý Poddvorov, Prušánky, Uhřice and in the locality of Vizovické vrchy for this year.
Adapted and republished by Prague Daily Monitor.
