21 Jan 2020 16:07

Contracts for oil supply from outside Russia nearly ready - Belarus's Belneftekhim

MINSK. Jan 21 (Interfax) - Belneftekhim head Andrei Rybakov says that Belarus has nearly-completed contracts for the delivery of oil from outside Russia.

"We are working on the alternative routes. I will not reveal the details. I can only say that some contracts have almost been finalized," Rybakov said, according to state news agency BelTA.

"This applies not only to oil itself but also to logistics channels. This will not be ports or railway. It will be other means," he said.

Belarus was unable to reach an agreement with Russian oil companies by the end of last year on the terms for oil supplies after January 1, 2020.

On December 31, President Alexander Lukashenko ordered that imports of oil from alternative suppliers begin in the coming days.

On January 14, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Krutoi said that the government had sent commercial proposals on purchasing oil to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic states.

On January 20, Belneftekhim said that it had bought 80,000 tonnes of oil from Norway's Johan Sverdrup field with delivery to the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda.