Belarus received guarantees of oil supplies in the first half of 2014

On December 18, a protocol of the meeting on Russia’s supplies of petroleum feedstocks to Belarus was signed.

Conditions of oil supplies altogether do not allow to count on significant alleviation of major economic problems but help prevent the catastrophic development of the situation.

The volume of oil supplies in the first half of the year may reach 11.5 mln tons, of which 10.3 mln tons will be delivered by a pipeline. Belarus counted on the pipeline delivery of the entire volume of oil because of its greatest economic attractiveness. This agreement will ensure the maximum workload of refineries, which is a positive factor in the activity of the key export branch in Belarus. The review of the mechanism of distributing duties on petroleum products will be linked to signing of the agreement on the Common Economic Space, and it is not expected before 2015. Oil supplies in the second half of the year may be linked to the advancement in the area of joint projects and privatization of assets, which is a certain mechanism of control over the fulfillment of obligations by Belarus.