Belarus, Russia plan to draft common oil market treaty by middle of 2023, Belneftekhim says

MINSK. Aug 29 (Interfax) - Belarus and Russia continue to work on a common oil market treaty and plan to have this ready for approval by mid-2023, the state oil concern Belneftekhim's chairman, Andrei Rybakov, said after a reporting to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday.

"The Union State program [on a common oil market] has its deadlines, and we are [following] them. The relevant agreement has been drafted and we as well as the Russian side are looking at it. We plan to remove all possible and impossible aspects, all controversial issues by the end of this year in order to have a fair copy of the treaty by the middle of next year," the state BelTA news agency quoted Rybakov as saying in a video commentary.

"The task is to have an intergovernmental agreement by the middle of next year. Fair conditions - they have something in common not just in our program but in the tax sphere. So all programs should be adopted as a whole," he said.

Rybakov told Lukashenko that all Belneftekhim enterprises were working smoothly. "We've ensured the necessary remittances to the state budget. Payments for all the energy resources are being made on time. Salaries are being paid on time and in full. Real wages across the concern in H1 2022 have matched last year's level," he said.