BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
07/01/2010
Moscow downplays oil row with Minsk
MOSCOW, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- An agreement for 2010 between Moscow and Minsk to settle disputes over Russian oil transits is pending, the Russian energy minister said.
Tensions escalated in the first week of 2010 over Russian oil transits with both sides offering varying accounts of the status of talks for the price of this year's oil.
Russia cut oil supplies to refineries in Belarus briefly because of a pricing dispute. That row sent shivers through Eastern Europe, which is struggling with energy security issues during one of the harshest winters on record.
Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko gave assurances Thursday that matters with Minsk are close to a resolution, Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti reports.
"We hope that the agreement will be reached in the nearest future," he said.
Belarus received discounts on Russian oil imports in 2009. Moscow said it would consider concessions for Minsk in 2010, but not for its oil bound for European markets.
Belarus this week lowered the export duty on crude oil by $4 per metric ton from Jan. 1 following the oil trade row.
Russia in 2009 shipped roughly 25 million tons of crude oil to Belarus, though the bulk of those exports were transmitted to other countries in Eastern Europe.
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