Details: Belarus halts oil product export of through Klaipeda port, pending oil price talks with Russia

<p> MINSK, Dec 21 - PrimePress. The British subsidiary of Belarusian Oil Company (BelOil, a designated exporter of Belarusian oil products) BNK (UK) Limited has recently notified Klaipedos Nafta about the suspension of oil product transshipment through Klaipeda Port (Lithuania) under new contracts. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The Lithuanian terminal said in a statement that shipments through Klaipedos Nafta under previously signed contracts will continue, but BelOil will temporarily not sign new contracts with the Lithuanian terminal. BelOil has not yet commented on the situation. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Pressure on the Baltic States </p> <p>   </p> <p> The suspension of oil products export through Klaipeda can be interpreted, on the one hand, as pressure on Lithuania, which consistently seeks to ban the export of Belarusian electricity to the European market after the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (Astravyets, Grodno Oblast), considering it unsafe </p> <p>   </p> <p> This step can also be regarded as a political signal to all Baltic States, which supported the political sanctions against Belarus. As a reminder, at the end of August, amid the political crisis in the country following the presidential elections in Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko said that Belarus would stop using their ports for the transshipment of its export cargos as a response to the sanctions of the Baltic States. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Therefore, the temporary refusal of BelOil to sign new contracts with the Klaipeda port terminal may look like an indication that Minsk is ready to transfer Belarusian oil products to Russian ports in the Leningrad Region. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Supplies via Russia’s ports remains unprofitable </p> <p>   </p> <p> However, in reality this is not the case so far, as it has proved difficult to implement this initiative. According to experts, the cost of transshipment of oil products in Ust-Luga is more than twice as high as the cost of services in the port of Klaipeda. Even the current 50% discount on Russian railway tariffs for the transportation of Belarusian oil products has not helped - it is still unprofitable to transship them through Russian ports, as the overall logistics turns out to be costlier when the port costs are taken into account. </p> <p>   </p> <p> A few days after his announcement about the logistics turnaround, Lukashenko also had to admit that the reorientation of Belarusian oil flows that he had announced would be costly. Therefore, it was said that he expects to negotiate preferential tariffs with the Russian Federation for the handling of Belarusian cargo, given that Russian ports would benefit in any case. </p> <p>   </p> <p> A task group that involves representatives of the Belneftekhim Concern has been discussing “the maths” of the new logistics with the Russian participants for more than three months, but so far without visible results. </p> <p>   </p> <p> It is obvious that at this stage Moscow considers the issue of the reorienting Belarusian oil flows to Russian ports as one of the key issues in the context of Belarusian-Russian relations. It can be assumed that the terms of Russian oil supplies to Belarus in 2021 depend on the success of the project. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Given this fact, the recent suspension of the transit of Belarusian oil products via Klaipeda can be regarded as a demonstration of Minsk’s readiness to act in line with Moscow’s strategic interests. The only thing that is needed is additional preferences from Russia. </p> <p>   </p> <p> If no other agreement is reached, due to the tax manoeuvre in Russia the oil price for Belarus will increase to 88-90% of the world price in 2021, whereas now it is 85% of the world price (Belneftekhim data). End </p>

2020-12-22

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