Belarusian President Lukashenko: several differences with Russia need to be resolved
After talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the parties have conceptually agreed on the supply of energy, and specific prices will be determined soon, reports BelTA news agency.
The Belarusian President noted that he does not rule out a new meeting with his Russian counterpart before the end of this year or early next year. "We have a couple of problems that we need to resolve, these are presidential issues," said Lukashenko.
According to him, the decision is made that in 2020 Belarus will buy 20-22 billion cubic meters of gas and 24-25 million tons of oil from Russia. The specific prices will be determined in the coming days. "The price of oil will be set within two days. And I think that the price for gas will be set in two-three days. On Tuesday, experts will meet in Gazprom's office, and specific figures will be known. But in general, the price remains at the level of the current year," said Belarusian President.
Earlier, the Russian Minister for Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin said that at the talks in Saint Petersburg, Putin and Lukashenko failed to reach agreements on the taxation and also oil and gas sectors. "These are three groups of issues that need to be resolved to finalize the roadmaps [for the integration of the two countries]," said Oreshkin.
In 2019, the price of Russian gas for Belarus is $127 per 1 thousand cubic meters. Minsk has repeatedly stated that it expects to for this price to be lower.
Belarusian oil refiners face the risk of financial losses due to the so-called tax maneuver in Russia. The maneuver includes gradual zeroing of export duties on oil and oil products by 2024 (now it is at the level of 30-100% from an oil duty depending on a type of oil product) and increase of the tax on extraction of minerals (EDPD). Belarus now receives Russian oil duty-free.
Due to the termination of special preferences, the price of Russian oil for Belarus will be similar to the price for other consumers. Minsk estimates its potential losses because of that at $10.8 billion over six years (until 2024).
The Union State of Russia and Belarus is a supranational union of Russia and Belarus with the organization of a single political, economic, military, customs, currency, legal, humanitarian, and cultural space.