Kazakhstan does not agree with rise in tariff to pump oil via Belarus, will hold talks

ASTANA. Dec 15 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan does not agree with the rise in the tariff for pumping oil via the territory of Belarus, and it plans to hold talks with the Belarusian side, the Kazakh Energy Ministry said in a statement.

"The Kazakh side does not agree with the idea of raising the tariff by 43% for pumping oil via Belarus, and believes that it is necessary to hold appropriate talks on the matter with the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus and Belneftekhim [the Belarusian state oil and petrochemicals concern]," the Kazakh Energy Ministry said in response to an Interfax request.

At the end of last year, an agreement was reached between the Kazakh side, Germany and Russia on the transportation of Kazakh oil through the Transneft PJSC system in the amount of up to 1.2 million tonnes per year through the Druzhba system in the direction of the Schwedt refinery to Germany, the ministry said.

Transportation of Kazakh oil through the Druzhba system toward Germany is conducted out via the territories of Russia, Belarus and Poland.

The tariff from the Kazakhstan/Russia border to the Adamova Zastava point is 1,583.706 rubles/tonne ($17.66/ton): via Russian territory, it is 1,127.766 rubles/tonne; via the territory of Belarus - 455.94 rubles/tonne.

The ministry noted that if the cost of pumping through Belarus increases 43.4%, Kazakhstan's losses could total $2.64 million when transporting 1.2 million tonnes of Kazakh oil along this route.

Earlier, Kommersant wrote that Belarus proposed a new option for indexing tariffs for oil transportation via its territory to Europe. The publication said that, for the northern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline, which currently carries only Kazakh oil, Minsk proposes to increase the tariff 43%, and for the southern branch, through which oil supplies from Russia continue onward, the increase would be 14.5%.