As talks with Russia stall Lukashenko orders Belarus officials to start looking for alternative oil supplies
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has instructed the heads of the Belarusian petrochemical industry to ensure the supply of oil from alternative sources within the next few days, reports the BelTA news agency. In the first place, Belarus officials consider delivering oil from the Baltic Sea port terminals by rail.
Head of the Belneftekhim concern Andrei Rybakov said that after telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko instructed to complete negotiations with Russia in the next few hours and to sign contracts for the supply of oil to Belarus.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the protracted negotiations between Russia and Belarus on the terms of Russian oil supplies to Belarusian refineries in 2020 might lead to the suspension of the oil deliveries from January 1.
5.84 million tons of oil are expected to be delivered to Belarusian refineries from Russia in January-March 2020. During October-December 2019, 4.48 million tons of oil were delivered to Belarus.