Media: Russia wants to support Belarus and increase its fuel imports

MOSCOW, September 9 — PRIME. Russia can support Belarus with an increase in fuel imports, and the volume of the damper can reach more than 60 billion rubles a year, the Kommersant newspaper writes on Friday.

The Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance of Russia are discussing the import of gasoline and diesel fuel from Belarus, the newspaper writes, citing sources in the industry. It is noted that if the task is to redirect to Russia all the fuel that Belarus previously supplied to Ukraine, then the volume of the damper will be 5.5 billion rubles for gasoline and 58 billion rubles for diesel fuel.

“Russia decided to expand supplies from Belarus in the face of problems with sales of Belarusian refineries, which worsened after the cessation of fuel exports to Ukraine against the backdrop of the RF conducting hostilities in this country. The main goal of the discussed measures is to support Belarusian oil refining and the country’s budget revenues in the face of sanctions,” – the newspaper writes, citing two sources.

It is reported that, according to the independent pricing agency Argus, Belarus provided 45% of total gasoline imports to Ukraine and 37% of diesel fuel imports – 1.04 and 2.97 million tons. It is specified that Russian refineries receive subsidies for the supply of fuel to the domestic market, while Belarusian refineries cannot receive it now.

It is emphasized that deliveries to Russia without a damper will be unprofitable for Belarus, and such operations are almost never carried out. In Russia, they are discussing how to pay the damper to Belarusian factories.

According to the interlocutor of the newspaper, the Ministry of Finance can prepare changes to the Tax Code without specifying which payment mechanism is used. Also, the interlocutors of the newspaper in the industry believe that the option of obtaining a damper by Belarus with the help of a trading company registered in Russia can be studied.

As the newspaper writes, problems with Belarus’ exports to Europe began due to the introduction of US and EU sanctions against Belarusian refineries after the incident with the landing of a Ryanair plane at Minsk airport, and in June of this year, the EU tightened sanctions against the Novopolotsk refinery. In April of this year, Belarus said that due to sanctions, the loading of the Mozyr and Novopolotsk refineries had already halved, to about 14,000 and 12,000 tons of oil per day.