Belneftekhim is to finish negotiations with Russian companies on oil supplies in April 2, Prime Minister Siarhey Rumas told journalists, writes TUT.by.
Belarus expects to get 2 million tons of Russian oil at a price of about $ 4 per barrel in April.
“Today, I think Belneftekhim will complete negotiations with Russian companies on Russian oil supplies in April. We expect to get 2 million tons of oil. As for the premium, I can repeat what I said two weeks ago: Russian oil will be supplied without premium. This rigid and consistent attitude of the head of state to purchase oil without premium added to the price is maintained by the government. The result of this position – the price at which we will buy oil in April – is about $4 per barrel,” said Rumas.
On April 2, Ambassador of Belarus to Russia Uladzimir Siamashka said in an interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta that recently we’ve managed to find a mutually acceptable solution for the 2020 regarding the conditions of Russian oil supplies to Belarus.
“This decision is based on reducing by $7 per ton the premium of Russian oil companies in the oil price formula. The rest of the premium of USD 4.7 per ton will be compensated within the framework of interbudgetary relations between Belarus and Russia. Therefore, we expect that in the rest of the year we will be able to quickly increase the volume of supplies and reach the figures close to the ones originally planned 2020,” said the ambassador.
- Earlier, the cost of oil for Belarus was calculated by the formula “market price + premium to suppliers”. However, given the implementation of the next stage of Russia’s tax maneuver, the cost of Russian oil for Belarus has increased (according to Belneftekhim, now the price is about 83% of the world price). Under these circumstances, Minsk considered the old oil formula unfair and refused to pay the premium. Because of this, in late 2019, Belarus was unable to conclude oil contracts with the main Russian suppliers – Rosneft, Surgutneftegaz and Gazpromneft. In the first quarter of 2020, Russian oil supplies to Belarus decreased by 77% to 1.04 million tons. In total, Belarus planned to purchase 24 million tons from Russia in 2020.
