Russia and Belarus still discussing tariff for pumping oil through northern branch of Druzhba pipeline- Russian Energy Minister
ST. PETERSBURG. July 27 (Interfax) - Russia and Belarus continue to discuss the tariff for pumping oil through the northern branch of the Druzhba pipeline, Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov told reporters.
"We are still negotiating," he said, adding that there is no consensus on the issue yet.
Earlier, Shulginov noted that Minsk's proposal to increase the tariff for the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba main oil pipeline is not to Moscow's liking.
"Supplies there are now going to Germany via the northern branch, and we are coordinating them. There are no shipments of Russian oil there now. The total volumes are increasing every month, primarily with Germany. We look at how much oil the pipeline system can pass through every quarter," he said.
"A supply of 1.2 million tonnes has been agreed for a year [from Kazakhstan], that is, 100,000 tonnes per month. Kazakhstan is not involved in the discussion, because the pipeline is not theirs. Kazakhstan can then decide to pump more or less," the minister said.
As reported, Gomeltransneft Druzhba informed Transneft of its desire to increase tariffs by 80%. "In the context of a decrease in transit transportation through the territory of Belarus, Gomeltransneft Druzhba proposed to Transneft an 84% increase in tariffs for oil transit via the republic. An increase in the specific tariff for oil transportation in the direction of Poland and Germany is planned from $0.91 to $1.67 per 100 tonne-kilometers (tkm), and in the direction of Ukraine, from $1.14 to $2.09 per 100 tkm," the Gomeltransneft Druzhba representative said. The company emphasized that the tariffs proposed by the Belarusian operator for the transit of oil through the territory of Belarus are lower than those set by operators in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
According to Gomeltransneft Druzhba, from January 1, 2023, Ukrtransnafta raised the specific tariff for the transit of oil through Ukraine in the direction of Hungary and Slovakia from $3.5 to $4.3 per 100 tkm. Ukrtransnafta also planned a two-stage tariff increase as of June 1, 2023 to $5.4 per 100 tkm, and as of August 1, 2023 to $6.6 per 100 tkm.
Kaztransoil decided to increase the tariff for pumping oil through its main oil pipelines for export outside Kazakhstan from $1.97 to $2.27 per 100 tkm as of July 1 of this year, the Belarusian company said.