BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
04/01/2010
Belarus downplays Russian oil-cut rumors
MINSK, Belarus, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Suggestions that the flow of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline to Belarus was cut off following trade disputes are false, officials said Monday.
Officials from Belarus and Russia closed 2009 without reaching an export agreement for 2010, sending shivers through Eastern Europe.
The situation is similar to a dispute between Kiev and Moscow in early 2009 that prompted Russian gas monopoly Gazprom to cut gas supplies to Ukraine. That left European customers in the cold for weeks as 80 percent of their Russian gas travels through pipelines in Ukraine.
The Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry, or Belneftekhim, denied reports that Russia cut oil supplies because of the contract dispute, Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti reports.
"The information (on the cessation of oil supplies) is false -- oil is being supplied to Belarus both for transit and processing," a Belneftekhim official said.
Mikhail Barkov, vice president of Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft, said oil transit through Belarus was not at risk, though deliveries to Eastern Europe depended on Minsk.
Both sides failed to agree on pricing terms for Russian oil shipments for 2010. Belarus received discounts on Russian oil imports in 2009. Moscow said it would consider concessions for Minsk, but not for its oil bound for European markets.
Source:
Archive
Subscribe Daily Newsletter:
Belarus News and Analysis Donate:
