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Oil & Energy

Russia stops oil supplies to Belarus after no deal signed


Published : 04 Jan 2020 08:12 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 01:29 AM

Russia has stopped shipping oil to Belarus, the Belarusian state energy firm said on Friday, after the two countries failed to reach a deal on supplies by a January 1 deadline. Moscow said oil flow through Belarus -- a key transit route for Russian oil and gas to Europe -- was continuing. But a dragged-out dispute could threaten supplies.

Belneftekhim said in a statement that loading to Belarus’s two oil refineries had been reduced to a technical minimum after supplies from Russia were halted. “Work is ongoing on concluding the January contracts,” said the statement, quoted by state media.

The ex-Soviet neighbours have a long history of energy disputes and complicated bilateral ties, with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko running hot and cold on Moscow’s push for a closer trade and political union. A previous deal on oil prices, transit fees and volumes expired on December 31. Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a series of calls ahead of the deadline but without apparent progress.