BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

10/01/2007

Belarus Cancels Anti-Russia Oil Tariff

The former Soviet republic Belarus plans to cancelled a recently-imposed tariff on Russian oil transit shipments that led to a shutdown of a key pipeline to Europe, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.

Belarus' Praesidium of Government repealed the 45 dollar per ton tax, which went into effect on January 1, shortly after authoritarian Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko spoke by telephone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The repeal was effective by late afternoon. Almost immediately thereafter, oil was reportedly flowing again in Druzhba pipeline, closed since Monday.

Russian negotiators on Tuesday had made Belarusian cancellation of the tax a precondition to reopening talks on oil pricing between the former Soviet republics.

The Belarusian decision to cancel the surcharge was a near total reversal of Tuesday's Belarusian negotiating position.

Russia and Belarus have been at loggerheads over oil pricing since Monday. Oil supplies to six European countries receiving Russian energy via a trans-Belarus pipeline have been cut off, as a result of the dispute.

Belarus since the beginning of the year had insisted 45-dollar per ton surcharge was fair retaliation for Russia's decision to levy a 180-dollar export tax on oil sold to Belarus.

Russian negotiators have called the Belarusian surcharge "illegal".

2007 DPA

Source:

http://www.playfuls.com/news_09_1995-Belarus-Cancels-Anti-Russia-Oil-Tariff.html