Belarus Increased Import of Petroleum Products from Russia by 50%

In the first half of the year, Belarus significantly increased the import of oil products, the supplies of which Russia plans to limit from the fourth quarter. According to official statistics, in the January-to-June period Belarus imported goods from Russia for $ 11 billion, while half of the imports accounted for energy resources. So, for the first half of the year Belarus imported 9.09 million tons of oil from Russia for 3.4 billion dollars, 10.1 billion cubic meters of gas for 1.3 billion dollars and 2.1 million tons of oil products for 0.8 billion dollars. Compared with the first half of last year, the volume of imports of oil and gas virtually remained the same. At the same time, the import of Russian oil products to Belarus increased by 49.4% in physical terms. According to documentary information, BelaPAN reports, at the initiative of the Russian side, there is a decision that from the fourth quarter of 2018 Russia restricts the supply of petroleum products to Belarus and is ready to supply them exclusively to meet the internal needs of the republic. In addition, the draft intergovernmental decision provides that, at the request of the Russian authorities, Belarusian enterprises and state agencies will have to substantiate these internal needs. As Reuters reported in August, quoting documentary sources, Russia planned to limit the supply of petroleum products to Belarus due to the fact that it suspected the republic in the Russian petroleum products re-export. Last week, First Deputy Prime Minister Vasily Matyushevsky told that the Belarusian authorities were negotiating with Russia on oil issues. “The negotiations are carried on at the level of Vice-premiers, who are responsible for this issue. The negotiations are tough”, Matyushevsky noted, commenting on media reports about the limitation of Russian oil products supplies. At the same time, he expressed hope that the Vice-premiers of Belarus and Russia, who participate in the oil talks, will “find a solution to all difficult issues in the near future”. Last Saturday Alexander Lukashenko changed the government and appointed chairman of the Belarusian petrochemical concern Belneftekhim Igor Lyashenko as Vice-premier, who instead of Vladimir Semashko would supervise fuel and energy issues in the Council of Ministers. Source: TYT.by