• 04.03.2019 /
• Company news

Belarus will seek to replace Russian oil – Lukashenka

If Minsk does not agree with Russia on compensation through tax maneuvers, then it will be forced to switch to oil from other countries, reports the “Agency of Oil and Gas Information” referring to the statement of the president of the republic, Alexander Lukashenko.

“We have a good relationship with Russia. Yes, of course, somewhere we want to squeeze economically, and maybe, really concerned about this tax maneuver. We will survive the absence of these $ 400 million this year, – said the president of Belarus – We will buy oil from the side. Today the oil market is overflowing – a question in the price. “

According to O. Lukashenka, in November Belarus will complete the modernization of its factories, after which the depth of oil refining will be up to 95%, “as in European factories”.

“It costs a lot, but we will finish it. Well, who will benefit from this? We are just at the Russian market, where Russian oil is processed, we will bring someone else’s oil. Russia – is it necessary? No. Well, today, we have to think about it, “Lukashenko said.

In Russia, in 2019-2024, a tax maneuver is planned, that is, a gradual zeroing of the export duty on oil and an increase in the tax rate on mineral extraction (PICC). As a result, prices for Russian oil will increase, duties on export of petroleum products will decrease and Belarus will incur additional costs that Minsk estimated at $ 11 billion in six years.

In January, O. Lukashenka claimed that if Moscow refuses to compensate Minsk for the loss from tax maneuver, it can lose Belarus as its ally.

According to a source, in mid-January, Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting of the Russian government said that Moscow had never promised to Minsk any financial assistance in connection with the losses incurred by Belarus through the revision of the Russian oil tax.

Provides information: enkorr