Importing OPML takes too long

This is separate from the issue to do OPML imports in batch mode. OPML import simply takes too long. Why is it necessary to fetch and parse the feed while creating the feed node?

/**
 * Builds feed object ready to be sticked onto node.
 */
function _feedapi_build_feed_object($node_type, $url) {
  $feed = new stdClass();
  $feed->url = $url;
  $node_type_settings = feedapi_get_settings($node_type);
  $feed->processors = _feedapi_format_settings($node_type_settings, 'processors');
  $feed->parsers = _feedapi_format_settings($node_type_settings, 'parsers');
  if ($feed->url) {
    $feed = _feedapi_call_parsers($feed, $feed->parsers);
  }
  $feed->link = $feed->options->link;
  return $feed;
}

Note that _feedapi_call_parsers() will fetch and parse the contents of $feed->url. This is why importing OPML takes so long. Is it necessary to do this during OPML import?