Moscow does not seem to make concessions to Minsk: the decision to suspend the supply of oil to Belarus is an effect of the Russian leadership’s instructions to major petroleum companies, the newspaper Kommersant reports.
According to the media outlet, the Kremlin is dissatisfied with the Belarusian side’s position on the approval of integration road maps.
However, the authors state that Moscow does not intend to bring the situation to the boil. The fact that the companies owned by oligarch Mikhail Gutseriyev were allowed to deliver oil and oil products to Belarus is indicative of it. At the same time, the amount supplied is sufficient only for its domestic market, but not for export.
The current negotiations have not yielded any fruit so far. Minsk wants discounts that would compensate for the consequences of the Russian tax maneuver. In turn, Moscow stressed that when the two countries’ tax codes were harmonized, the question would be immediately tackled.
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka ordered Belarusian officials to search for alternative oil suppliers, but there has been no headway by now. In these settings, Minsk is trying to get more money for the transit of Russian oil through the territory of Belarus. The corresponding resolution by the head of entered into force on January 14; it retroactively increased the cost of transit. But in order to get compensated, Belarus should advance the tariff by 70%, which is very unlikely, the Kommersant says.
