The first of two tankers with Russian oil purchased from traders without any premium has arrived in the port of Klaipeda, Interfax-Zapad learned from Alyaksandr Tsishchanka, press secretary of the Belneftekhim concern.
The shipment of cargo by railway to Navapolatsk to Naftan is expected to start on Thursday, he added.
In mid-February, Belneftekhim reported on the purchase of 160 thousand tons of Russian oil from traders without a premium with transit through Lithuania. Belarusian oil export company BNK informed the Lithuanian railway that tankers were expected on March 3-4 and March 13-15.
The company Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai plans to transport 100-150 carriages of oil per day from Klaipeda to the Belarusian border, and the entire cargo must be delivered within 10 days.
Previously, the cost of oil for Belarus was calculated by the formula “market value + premium to suppliers”. However, given the implementation of the next stage of the tax maneuver by Russia, the price 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 enter into oil contracts with major Russian suppliers like Rosneft, Surgutneftegaz and Gazpromneft.
