Lukashenka Warned About International Scandal Over Transit Oil

The dictator substitutes the wish for the reality.

Lukashenka has announced plans to withdraw Russian oil from the transit pipe if Russia does not deliver the promised amount of oil.

Lukashenka notes that Russia has supplied Belarus with a quarter of the monthly volume of oil, stipulated in the intergovernmental agreement. Minsk has found the undersupply of 1.5 million tons of fuel. According to the Belarusian ruler, if the situation does not change, he will start withdrawing from the transit pipe.

Leading expert of the National Energy Security Fund Igor Yushkov explained on the air of the NSN that Lukashenka substitutes the wish for the reality. The intergovernmental agreements on oil in Minsk and Moscow are not about guaranteed volumes of fuel supply, but about the technological capabilities of pumping. To get the desired amount of oil, one has to buy it from Russian companies.

"The 24 million tons of oil per year that Lukashenka is talking about - they don't exist. There is the so-called "indicative balance", which means that Russia guarantees the technical possibility of pumping these volumes, not the delivery itself. Now Belnautakhim should go to the Russian oil companies and agree with them on commercial supplies. In other words, to buy oil. So far, no contracts have been concluded. Moreover, Belarus has never bought so much - its refineries process 18 million tons," - the expert said.

Igor Yushkov also warned about possible difficulties, if the oil supplies have to be started in a hurry: the pipeline is not ready.

"Even if now they have signed contracts and Transneft has supplied 2 million tons of oil to the pipeline, Belarus would not be able to get it. Last week, they pumped out the technological - so-called "buffer" - oil, which is kept there to ensure the operation of the pipeline. It turns out that it can't work now. And they did it themselves! So, even if we wanted to supply oil to Belarus, we wouldn't be able to," - the interlocutor of the NSN noted.

The analyst called the possible pumping of transit oil by Minsk a theft and an attempt to negotiate good conditions for the purchase of Russian fuel. He warned the Belarusian leadership that in this case it would face numerous lawsuits - the oil, which passes through the transit pipe over Belarus, is the property of many companies.

"It is certainly an attempt to negotiate good conditions for the purchase of oil from Russian companies. If the Belarusians take oil from the transit volumes, dozens of lawsuits from different companies, which own it, will be filed against them. It turns out that Minsk is going to steal oil from dozens of oil companies! It will be an international scandal," - Yushkov concluded.