Contents tagged with Belarus
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Belarus finds alternative to Russian oil
The Belarusian Oil Company (BNK) has purchased 80,000 tons of oil from Norway, BelTA reports, citing the press service of Belneftekhim, the Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry.
“The Belarusian Oil Company has purchased a batch of Norwegian oil. We’re talking about 80,000 tons. It is intended for refining at Naftan,” stated the press service, as cited by BelTA.
Naftan is one of the two Belarusian oil refineries situated in the Vitebsk region. It is used to refine oil from Russia, …
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Belarus reduces by half Russian oil transit to Europe
Belarus has sharply cut back on its transit of Russian oil to Europe in the wake of disagreements with Moscow regarding the tariffs for transit through the Druzhba pipeline, and several Russian oil companies’ decision to halt deliveries to Belarusian refineries, reports finanz.ru.
As of January 14, the transit volume through the Druzhba pipeline towards Poland has been halved to 70,000 tons per day, GomelTransNeft, the Belarusian pipeline operator, told Interfax.
“Between January 14 and 17 …
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Belarus seeks alternative to Russian oil
Belarus has sent offers to purchase oil to enterprises in Ukraine, Poland, the Baltics, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, said Belarusian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Krutoy, as cited by Belta. According to him, the commercial services of the Belarusian Oil Company’s plants are involved in daily negotiations regarding possible oil deliveries.
Latvia has already said that it is willing to participate in reverse oil deliveries to Belarus, said Latvian Ambassador to Minsk Einars Semanis ahead of a …
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Russian-Belarusian oil transit negotiations end with no results
Russian and Belarusian representatives were unable to reach an agreement regarding oil transit tariffs for 2020 during their negotiations in Minsk on Monday.
Citing a source familiar with the proceedings, BelTA reports that Belarus demanded a tariff increase, citing the oil contamination incident last year, which caused downtime on the Druzhba pipeline and damage to the equipment of Belarusian oil refineries.
The parties are currently discussing a 16.6% tariff hike, a source told Interfax. …
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Belarusian President Lukashenko displeased by Gazprom’s gas price hike
At an awards ceremony yesterday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the situation surrounding the price of Russian gas, in which Russia’s Gazprom earns “three times as much” from supplying fuel to Belarus as to Germany, is abnormal.
Commenting on the gas price negotiations, Lukashenko accused the Russian concern of earning three times as much in Belarus as in Germany. “Is this normal? It’s abnormal,” BelTA cites the president as saying.
The parties have currently agreed to …
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Lukashenko decides to pay for Russian gas using Belarusian rubles
Belarus is aiming to stop paying for Russian gas in US dollars and start using Belarusian rubles in its contracts with Gazprom.
This goal was included in the “Strategy for increasing faith in the national currency until 2035” which was compiled by the Belarusian government and National Bank and approved on January 3.
The Belarusian ruble, introduced in 1994, has suffered from chronic devaluation and at present has “completely stopped fulfilling the function of money”. As much as 60% of the …
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Belarus resumes oil deliveries from Russia
Deliveries of oil from Russia to Belarus’s Naftan oil refinery in the Vitebsk Region resumed on the evening of January 4, said Vladimir Sizov, deputy head of the Belarusian state oil concern Belneftekhim, as cited by BelTA.
According to him, the pumping units were switched on at 17:05. “Oil deliveries towards Naftan have begun. As routing instructions are issued, quantities will be added and will be delivered even to the Mozyr refinery,” Sizov added.
News that oil deliveries to Belarus had …
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Lukashenko: NATO will not allow Russia to violate Belarus’s sovereignty
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is convinced that the West and NATO would respond accordingly if Russia tried to violate the sovereignty of Belarus.
“Classic threats to sovereignty always exist, even for Russia. But I do not feel like the threat to Belarus’s sovereignty is growing. If this threat from Russia, as some people say, arises, and suddenly it tries to violate our sovereignty, you know what the reaction of not only the global community will be – they will get drawn into the …
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Russia in talks with Belarus on extending lease agreement for two military facilities
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that Russia might keep the right to use two military facilities on Belarusian territory next year. These two military facilities are the Vileyka VLF transmitter and Missile Attack Early Warning System site in Hantsavichy which houses Volga-type Radar Station.
According to the Belarusian Defense Ministry, negotiations and consultations on this issue are continuing. The extension of the agreements of January 6, 1995, which entered into force on June 7, 1996, …
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Russia and Belarus one step away from oil war
Moscow and Minsk have been unable to agree on the terms under which Russian oil will be supplied to Belarusian refineries, and the deliveries could even stop at the start of the new year, Reuters reported, citing six sources in the industry.
On the morning of December 31, not a single ton of Russian oil was registered for Belarus, said two sources familiar with the registration of route instructions.
There have been numerous obstacles in the negotiations which Moscow links to the integration …